With universities and colleges in European and Asian countries providing low-cost overseas study programs, an increasing number of working-class parents are sending their children abroad, which means that studying overseas is no longer the exclusive privilege of students from rich families.

According to the 2012 Blue Book of Global Talent released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences last year, 34 percent of students studying abroad in 2010 were from working-class families, while the figure for 2009 was only 2 percent, People's Daily reported.

However, studying in countries like the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, which often costs $30,000 to $40,000 a year in total, is still a luxury for most students from working-class backgrounds.