Postgraduate Educational Aspirations and Policy Implications: A case study of university students in western China

China's educational reform from the late 1990s, has substantially increased university capacity. This has been most evident in undergraduate enrolments. As an increasingly large cohort of university graduates enters the job market yearly, the demand for university graduates has not caught up with supply. Some university students plan to pursue postgraduate studies in order to delay their entry into the competition for jobs and to improve their educational credentials. This paper reports on findings from a survey of university students in Xi'an, China, identifying the types of students who aspire to postgraduate education. The findings confirm the importance of three sets of factors: (1) parents' education and financial capacity; (2) university attended; and (3) academic performance. The paper argues that educational policy change in China has resulted in students having to pay tuition fees and having responsibility for finding jobs, thus creating conditions conducive to students with better family and financial resources, and better academic standing, to aspire to postgraduate education. Further policy implications of these findings regarding the expansion, financing and affordability of graduate education in China are discussed.