<p>Regarding the issue of cost of higher education, that has only become an issue since the end of the '90s when the Mainland government eliminated the subsidies which made higher education free for anyone who qualified on the Gaokao. </p>
<p>It was still free when I did my study abroad there in the very late '90s. </p>
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<p>In many East Asian countries, it’s not perceived…but actual reality in most cases. </p>
<p>Most highly paid/prestigious career paths in the public and private sectors WILL be closed to someone who fails to get into the top chosen elite colleges or sometimes even a top department within an elite college*. </p>
<p><em>E.g.: MITI/METI</em> practice of only hiring entry-level employees who graduated from the Law department of Tokyo University before the late '90s/early '00s. And it’s not because their department necessarily requires the educational background provided by that department. Rather, its viewed as a signaling credential to say the graduate is the elite among the elite. </p>
<p>** Ministry of Trade and Industry/Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry</p>