The "Hexagon Warrior's (六边形战士) of China
Why the era of mass-market study abroad is ending, and the elite and personalised upgrading is thriving.
Chinese students studying abroad fell from 703,500 students (70.35万) in 2019 to 570,600 students (57.06万) in 2025
I’m in Beijing doing a deep dive on: “Is studying abroad still worth it?” 留学还”有用”吗？Looking at the trends in the Chinese study abroad market.
The conclusion: It’s not that the study abroad market is in decline but that 2019 was a bubble and the study abroad market has returned to rationality.
Between 2007 and 2019 studying abroad grew 5x and went from elite to mass market.
As the numbers grew, the competition for opportunities when sea turtles (chinese student returnees) returned, meant that just studying abroad was no longer as big an advantage.
And with China’s property market correction the wealth effect and funding for studying abroad has cooled.
Driving people to look deeper at the return on investment and also to compare with lower cost options.
These factors are more critical now with the changes to economy and labour market from AI.
People are talking about hexagon warriors 六边形战士 (being fully rounded or multidimensional).
The ability to learn, the mindset change of studying abroad, and people and cultural skills from the experience are increasingly valuable.
They’re now looking at the best option for them rather than following the crowd or agents.
This reflects a main trend we’re seeing at Global Admissions. A shift away from mass market to the high end and niches.
What are you seeing?