[photopress:modrestudents.jpg,full,alignright]The number of applicants for postgraduate programs in Shanghai dropped this year for the first time in more than a decade, according to the Shanghai Education Examination Authority.
However, demand for MBA programs increased by 4.5%.
Possibly the reason for the drop outside of the MBA courses are the new fee structures at some universities which will see most postgraduate students pay full tuition for the first time.
There were 95,045 applicants from all over the country applied for postgraduate programs at 56 local universities or research institutes this year, a drop of 6.5 percent from last year. Applications had risen steadily for the past 13 years.
In the past, applicants who scored well on entrance exams did not have to pay tuition. Starting this year, all postgrad students at four of the city’s largest universities — Fudan, Jiao Tong, Tongji and East China Normal University — must pay tuition, which ranges from RMB10,000 ($1,250) to RMB20,000 a year depending on the major.
Source: Shanghai Daily