218 million
One of the Census' most relevant numbers to college students is the nation's whopping 218 million people with a college degree or higher. That's one college student for every seven people.
Before, although the major online platforms have always given the illusion of 985 per capita, there were always people who took a chance: "It's just an illusion, the actual population of college-educated people is not that large."
Now that the data is out, there really are that many. 15% of the population has a college degree, and that's still the total population of the country.
Let's look at the data for Beijing and Shanghai.
Beijing has 41% of its population with a college degree or higher, and Shanghai has 33.8%. This data includes older aunts and uncles who are dancing in the square, but also includes children who are studying in kindergarten, elementary school, middle school and high school.
Deducting 30% of the iron-clad low-education population (e.g., the entire population aged 0-14 plus some of those over 60), Shanghai's actual tertiary and higher-education population is 47%, or nearly half the population.
It can be expected that this data in the future, certainly will increase. Because Shanghai, as a magnet for talent, will always have a steady stream of talent coming in.