However, what matters most at such a difficult time is the schools’ core competitiveness, said Ran Wei, chief expert in overseas studies at New Channel International Education Group. He said some less-prominent universities, which became popular in the past few years amid a market boom, are losing steam, while consultations it received tend to concentrate on the world’s top teaching facilities.

“然而，在如此艰难的时期，最重要的还是学校的核心竞争力。”新航道国际教育集团首席留学专家冉维说。他表示，在市场繁荣的背景下，一些知名度并不高的大学在过去的几年中变得越来越受欢迎，如今却逐渐丧失了活力，相关的咨询也往往集中在世界的教学设施上。

But he’s convinced that the overseas education market will rebound and keep expanding because the rigid demand has remained unchanged.

但是他也相信，由于硬性需求保持不变，海外教育市场将逐渐回升并扩大。

Ran pointed out that admission to higher educational institutions on the mainland is intensively competitive, while overseas options are readily available.

冉维指出，进入内地高等院校的竞争异常激烈，而选择海外高校相对更加便捷。

Data from the Chinese Ministry of Education showed that the number of candidates taking national college entrance examinations this year soared to 10.71 million — the highest in a decade. However, only half of them would make it to undergraduate schools, about 5 percent to the nation’s top 100 schools, and only 0.4 percent has the chance to get admitted to the top 10.

中国教育部发布的数据显示，今年参加全国高考的人数猛增至1071万，达到近十年的水平。但是，只有一半的人会升入本科院校，约有5%的人会进入全国百强学校，只有0.4％的人有机会入读排名前10的高校。

Moreover, the number of university graduates is projected to reach 8.74 million this year, but the annual increase in new jobs available in the urban areas is about 12 million. Many graduates pursue overseas postgraduate courses with the dream of landing a more-desirable job upon graduation, considering that international studies would add a bonus point to their resumes.

此外，今年的大学毕业生人数预计将达到874万，但城市地区可提供的新工作每年增加约1200万。考虑到国际学习将为他们的履历加分，许多毕业生梦想着在毕业后找到更理想的工作，从而选择了海外研究生课程。

In Ran’s view, studying overseas is a rigid hope rather than an option among students from deep-pocketed Chinese mainland families. Many average-income parents would still prefer to send their children abroad if they could, he said.

冉维表示，海外学习是一种硬性希望，而不仅是大陆高等收入家庭孩子的一种选择。他说：“许多中等收入家庭的父母仍然愿意尽己所能把他们的孩子送到国外。”