Before going on to a master's after your bachelor's, first work out the tuition and the two or three years of pay you give up, then see whether your field pays more; if you already work, you can study part-time, and the certificate has the same force as a full-time one

Cost

Free. Look up the admissions brochure and the tuition standards once, then work out the numbers against the job offers you have in hand; about an hour or two.

What you get

First, the cost. A 2013 national guideline sets tuition for full-time academic master's programs at generally no more than 8000 CNY a year. Full-time professional master's programs follow their earlier fee policy, are not covered by this cap, and are often much more expensive. Full-time graduate students admitted within the enrollment plan can all receive the national graduate stipend (研究生国家助学金); for a master's it is at least 6000 CNY a year, with the exact amount set by each locality. Now the return. A 2020 study published by the UK Department for Education used national student records and tax records to follow people who finished bachelor's degrees from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s. The study removed differences in family background and bachelor's results and looked at income at age 35. In its words, “we estimate returns of 2% (women) and -2% (men) for masters”: women with a master's earned about 2% more than those with only a bachelor's, and men about 2% less. Differences by field are large. Women with a master's in law, economics or management earned about 20% more, and those in art, English or philosophy earned more than 10% less. For men, the return to a master's is clearly negative in most fields, but law, economics, management and engineering are still clearly positive. If you already work, you can take a part-time master's (非全日制) and study while working. A 2016 Ministry of Education notice says part-time and full-time students take the same exam and are trained to the same standard. The two kinds of degree and graduation certificates have “equal legal status and the same force” (具有同等法律地位和相同效力), and the diploma states the mode of study. The national stipend goes only to full-time graduate students admitted within the enrollment plan; part-time students cannot get it. In 2019, five departments including the Ministry of Education issued a notice. Civil service recruitment and open recruitment by public institutions and state-owned enterprises must offer equal employment opportunities to graduate students of different study modes. These recruitments may not set application conditions unrelated to the job requirements. The Ministry of Education's employment notice for the class of 2021 states that recruitment announcements by Party and government bodies, public institutions and state-owned enterprises may not make study mode a restrictive condition. The notice for the class of 2022 further states that no kind of campus recruitment may impose this restriction.

Notes

A dispute. Earlier UK studies always found a positive return to a master's; the authors of this study believe their data is finer and removes more. They also admit that differences such as motivation and career preference cannot be removed. The data stop at age 35 and cover people who graduated two or three decades ago, and no figure that removes personal differences in the same way was found in China, so treat it only as a direction. The evidence is therefore graded B. The way to work it out is the same as §23.6 (study or work): set the two or three years of lost pay against the extra you earn each year afterward. Some job postings state outright that a master's is required, such as at universities, research institutes and some state-owned enterprises; then the degree requirement is itself the payoff and should be counted separately. The part-time notices are departmental notices; they set no penalties and do not say whom to complain to if they are violated. They govern how a job posting is written and cannot control whom an employer finally picks. Campus recruitment has an explicit restriction; none was found governing study mode in private employers' open recruitment. The 2025 admissions regulation states that part-time programs in principle admit only people who are employed and who return to their original employer after graduating. Tuition, awards and stipends, and housing are written into the admissions rules by the school. For hukou (户口) and personnel file (档案), none of the national documents this book found sets a unified rule; read the admissions brochure and ask the school before you sign up.

Evidence grade

B : Supported by research but without a precise number, or based on small or single studies.

Sources

1. Ministry of Finance, National Development and Reform Commission, and Ministry of Education (2013). Opinions on improving the funding mechanism for graduate education ([2013] No. 19) [in Chinese]. https://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2013/content_2404719.htm: "In principle, at the current stage the tuition standard for full-time academic-degree graduate students shall be no more than 8000 yuan per student per year for master's students and no more than 10,000 yuan per student per year for doctoral students. Full-time professional-degree graduate students, and graduate students who are already charged fees under existing rules, will temporarily continue under the original fee policy" "The funding standard for doctoral students shall be no less than 10,000 yuan per student per year, and for master's students no less than 6000 yuan per student per year"
2. Britton J, Buscha F, Dickson M, van der Erve L, Vignoles A, Walker I, Waltmann B, Zhu Y (2020). The earnings returns to postgraduate degrees in the UK. Department for Education. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f609e478fa8f5106d1563cc/PG_LEO_report_FINAL.pdf
3. General Office of the Ministry of Education (2016). Notice on coordinating the management of full-time and part-time graduate students ([2016] No. 2) [in Chinese]. http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A22/moe_826/201609/t20160914_281117.html: "Graduation certificates that state the mode of study are issued in accordance with relevant state regulations" "Full-time and part-time graduate students are subject to the same examination and admission policies and training standards, and their diplomas and degree certificates have equal legal status and the same effect"
4. Same as [2013] No. 19 above: "The national graduate stipend covers all full-time graduate students within the national graduate enrollment plan"
5. General Office of the Ministry of Education and four other departments (2019). Notice on further improving the employment of part-time graduate students ([2019] No. 1) [in Chinese]. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2020-02/05/content_5490220.htm: "Recruitment of civil servants at all levels and open recruitment by public institutions and state-owned enterprises must set recruitment conditions reasonably according to job needs, provide equal employment opportunities to graduate students of different forms of education, and must not set application qualifications that are unrelated to job requirements"
6. Ministry of Education (2020). Notice on employment and entrepreneurship work for the class of 2021 of national regular higher education graduates ([2020] No. 5) [in Chinese]. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2020-12/01/content_5566303.htm: "In recruitment announcements and in actual practice, the university graduated from, study experience overseas, and mode of study (full-time or part-time) must not be used as restrictive conditions"
7. Ministry of Education (2021). Notice on employment and entrepreneurship work for the class of 2022 of national regular higher education graduates ([2021] No. 5) [in Chinese]. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2021-11/21/content_5652326.htm: "In all kinds of campus recruitment activities, discriminatory clauses that violate state regulations must not be set, and the university graduated from and the mode of study (full-time or part-time) must not be used as restrictive conditions"
8. Ministry of Education (2024). Provisions on the Administration of National Master's Degree Graduate Admissions for 2025 ([2024] No. 4), Article 77 [in Chinese]. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202410/content_6978684.htm: "The admission brochure shall, in accordance with relevant regulations, publish for each of the institution's master's programs the application requirements, mode of study, length of schooling, tuition standard, scholarship and stipend measures, graduation and employment, accommodation, the campus where training takes place, and so on. In principle, institutions admitting part-time master's students enroll in-service personnel with directed employment"

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 23, tip 24. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer