The number of Chinese students sitting the country's national university entrance exam has dropped by 450,000 to 12.9 million from a year earlier, as more teenagers opt out of pursuing academic degrees.

Acceptance rates for four-year bachelor’s programs continue a multiyear decline amid mounting employment anxiety and a rush for early internships

As Gaokao registrations fall for a second year, a pending demographic cliff threatens to upend the country’s higher education system