- During the 2026 university admissions season, millions of Chinese families used generative AI to consult on choosing schools and majors, partially replacing the roles of teachers, relatives, and traditional consultants.
- Following the Gaokao exam with 12.9 million candidates, students have only a few days to choose between thousands of majors at hundreds of universities nationwide.
- Alibaba reported that over 14 million people used the admissions consultancy Agent integrated into the Qwen AI assistant as of the end of June.
- Baidu stated that about 15 million students used its AI admissions assistant, while Tencent announced that its Yuanbao chatbot processed nearly 80 million admission-related questions.
- AI is particularly popular among middle- and low-income families because it provides large amounts of information for free, helping them access opportunities that previously often depended on expensive consulting services or personal connections.
- According to iiMedia Research, the admissions consulting market in China reached over 1 billion CNY (approx. $139 million) in 2025 and is expected to grow to 1.22 billion CNY (approx. $170 million) by 2027. The popularity of AI is putting significant pressure on this industry.
- Some consultants have had to lower service prices. In Guangzhou, one consulting package dropped from nearly 5,000 CNY to 2,999 CNY (approx. $418), while shifting focus to personalized advice and interpreting AI-generated results.
- The article also notes that AI effectiveness depends on the ability to ask questions. Users providing more information—such as tuition budgets, career orientations, or desired locations—will receive more accurate advice, though verification with teachers and relatives is still necessary.
📌 AI is rapidly changing the university admissions process in China as tens of millions of people use chatbots from Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent to select majors. The technology helps reduce costs, expands information access for low-income families, and pressures a consulting market worth over 1 billion CNY. However, the quality of advice still depends on questioning skills and the user’s ability to evaluate and verify results.
