BEIJING -- It should have been party time on the bright summer day 18-year-old Li Junliang was accepted by prestigious Beijing University. Fewer than one in 10 of China's students secure places at any of the country's crowded colleges and universities, let alone the Oxford University of China. But the acceptance letter sparked little in the way of celebration in the Li family home.
Staring at the long list of fees to pay, including those for tuition, books, accommodation and insurance, Li's parents despaired of ever being able to raise the needed $850 a year. On an annual income of barely $300, the farming couple from Fangshan County, south of Beijing, are already supporting Li's elder brother at university.
The Li family is one of tens of thousands of Chinese families struggling to meet the spiraling costs of higher education. For decades, free education was one of the ruling Communist Party's proudest boasts, but in recent years the government has moved toward a more market-oriented approach. University tuition fees have climbed steadily since free education was abolished in 1997.
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