Survey: Graduate employment from China's top universities

Tsinghua and Peking University are considered two of the top universities in China. Recently, they both released their Annual Reports on Graduate Employment for 2013.

High employment rate against the market

In 2013, a total of 6644 students graduated from Tsinghua University. The overall employment rate was 98.5%. Their bachelors' employment rate was 98.1%, master's employment rate was 98.7%, and PhD graduates' employment rate was 99.1%.

A total of 9071 students graduated from Peking University in 2013. The overall employment rate was 97.44%. Their bachelors' employment rate was 97.4%, master's employment rate was 97.9%, and PhD graduates' employment rate was 96.5%.

2013 has been judged to be the hardest year yet for university graduates in China to find a job. The general annual report showed that from October 2012 to April 2013, of those polled, only 26% of master's graduates and 35% of bachelor graduates had signed labor contracts, down by 10% compared with the previous year. But graduates from Tsinghua and Peking Universities remain attractive in the jobs market.

Most bachelor gradates choose to continue their studies

81.7% of bachelor graduates from Tsinghua University went on to pursue a master's degree. 54.4% of them chose to stay in China, while 27.3% chose to go abroad.

69% of bachelor graduates from Peking University chose to continue their studies. 40.1% chose to stay in China, while 28.9% chose to go abroad.

Instead of looking for a job directly, most bachelor graduates choose to continue their studies; of these, the majority major in science and engineering.

State-owned enterprises and institutions preferred by graduates

The data shows that 43.8% graduates of Tsinghua University signed labor contracts with state-owned enterprises. Among these, State Grid Corporation, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, and China Construction Corporation rank the top three enterprises preferred by Tsinghua graduates.

As distinct from Tsinghua University, 70% of graduates from Peking University signed labor contracts with educational and other institutions. Only about 4.9% choose to work in private companies.

This is edited and translated from an article on Guangzhou Daily