Chinese middle-class families are shifting their educational investments toward domestic academic competition.

Foreign media: A survey shows that Chinese middle- and upper-middle-class families are shifting more educational investments toward domestic academic advancement and job market competition, rather than preparations for studying abroad.

Due to intensified domestic employment competition and a cooling trend in overseas study enthusiasm, 84.5% of surveyed families purchased subject-based training during the summer holiday, up from 80.7% last year; the proportion of families spending over 60,000 yuan on summer education increased to 9.4%, with mathematics, English, and exam preparation training being the most popular, averaging around 24,000 yuan per family.

Meanwhile, the average expenditure on summer education programs has dropped to 61,100 yuan—the lowest in three years; the share of families spending more than 100,000 yuan has sharply declined from 39.4% in 2024 to just 12.5%, while the proportion of families spending less than 10,000 yuan rose to 15.5%, marking a recent high.

An analysis suggests that as some families abandon the overseas study path, they are concentrating educational resources on domestic training, aiming to strengthen their children’s academic competitiveness and secure greater certainty in an increasingly fierce domestic job market.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1876186215957580/

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