Recent statistical data has indicated significant rises in tuition fees at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, China Europe International Business School, Peking University, Tsinghua University and other mainstream business schools in 2014. Meanwhile, tuition fee hikes have also been witnessed at class 2 and class 3 business schools.

According to the data fed back from major business schools, six-digit MBA tuition fees are quite common. At China Europe International Business School, for example, the tuition fee in 2010 was 258,000 Yuan and by 2012 and 2014, the figure rose to 336,000 Yuan and 388,000 Yuan respectively. In addition, the tuition fees of luxurious EMBA courses are also approaching international levels. For example, the most expensive EMBA tuition fee of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in 2012-2014 was 658,000 Yuan, 688,000 Yuan and 708,000 Yuan respectively.

It is believed the following three factors have caused the hike of domestic MBA tuition fees in consecutive years: firstly, the school-running costs have kept rising and more and more money has been paid to faculties; secondly, increases seen in internships and university-industry cooperation, such as the establishment of internship bases, and thirdly, there have been more opportunities to study abroad on exchange schemes. All these factors will inevitably result in a rise in tuition fees.

What is noteworthy is that in 2014, China launched reform on its graduate education system and completely abolished the system of graduate education at public expense. As a result, the number of students taking postgraduate entrance examinations dropped for the first time in the past five years by 40,000. However, it has not affected the enthusiasm of MBA applicants. Currently formal business school education only accounts for around 10 percent. Given the fact that only a select few schools are capable of offering high-quality MBA education, price rises are therefore inevitable in a market where demand exceeds supply.