College graduates spend big to mark occasion

Some 100 well-dressed graduates attend a prom at a five-star hotel in Ningbo city, East China's Zhejiang province, May 27, 2015. [Photo/CFP]

The graduation season for Chinese university students is not just about receiving degrees. It's also about spending money.

Celebrating the end of university life includes journeys abroad, expensive dinners and fancy graduation photos, putting many students under heavy financial pressure.

A survey of new graduates by the China University Media Union (CUMU) found that 68 percent spend 4,000 yuan ($640) on graduation celebrations, and that two percent spend as much as 10,000 yuan during graduation season, which lasts less than a month.

Travel accounts for the majority of graduate expenses (57.14 percent), with the average amount spent between 3,000-5,000 yuan, the China Youth Daily reported, citing the survey.

Xiao Lishan, a graduate from Southwest University for Nationalities in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, had to live a life of austerity for a year before graduating, in order to save enough money to travel abroad.

She shaved 3,000 yuan off her living expenses, received 1,800 yuan in scholarships, and earned 2,000 yuan from part-time jobs. With that money, she and her friends visited Nepal, Vietnam and Nanning, a city in China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Xiao was one of the few graduates to achieve her travel dreams independently. The CUMU survey found that 60 percent of students rely on their parents for such expenses.

Lin Yiting, of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, said she spent a lot more money in her last month at university.

Lin spent an average of 1,500 yuan per month for living expenses, which rose to 6,000 yuan in her graduation month. Despite receiving an internship payment of 3,000 yuan, Lin had to ask her parents for financial help.

"Most of the money was spent on social gatherings. After all, it will be hard to meet again (after graduation)," she said.　　

Wu Jie, who studied at Central South University in Changsha, focused his spending on developing relationships with his future postgraduate tutor and senior students in Shanghai.

It cost Wu 2,000 yuan to host his teachers and colleagues from his lab.

"I think this spending is necessary. It will help me fit into the new school and get an advantage," he said.　

Not everyone has pockets as deep as Lin or Wu. Yuan Shi, a graduate from Huaihua University in Hunan province, comes from an ordinary rural family. His parents are migrant workers in Guangdong province, while his sister and brother are studying in the family's hometown.

Yuan said he covered all the costs of his undergraduate study with state and school subsidies, as well as with money he earned from a part-time job.

He said receiving invitations for parties was a headache, but that he felt he had to be there during the graduation season. "It's about saving face," he said.

Chen Peng, deputy director of the Department of Communication at Nankai University, said it was fine for graduates to maintain their friendships through such activities, but that some students abused the practice by showing off.