Who Has More Opportunities to Attend College?—An Empirical Study of the Strata Distribution of Different Qualities of Higher Education Opportunities in China

Abstract: The author uses sampling survey data from students at higher education institutions and performs an empirical analysis of the distribution of different types of higher education opportunities for residents with different socioeconomic backgrounds. The study finds that there is a significant relationship between the distribution of different qualities of higher education opportunities in China and the socioeconomic backgrounds of student families and parents’ social strata. The children of those with advanced degrees, large city residencies, high incomes, and advantaged occupations occupy more high-quality higher education opportunities. Further analysis shows that even though there is a large proportion of those with high incomes at high-level universities, income is not the main cause of this advantage. When other factors such as urban-rural residence and parents’ degrees and occupations are identical, children from high-income families actually have fewer high-quality higher education opportunities.