Abstract: Based on the four-year mixed cross-section data of the Peking University Chinese Family Tracking Survey in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016, a structural equation model was used to test the intermediary effect of private tutoring and the quality of general high schools between family capital and higher education opportunities. The findings show that: (1) participating in private tutoring can help high school students get into college, but it cannot help them to further into undergraduate colleges; studying in general high schools with high teaching quality can help high school students go to college and get into undergraduate college; (2) high school students’ participation in private tutoring and school quality differences play a part of the intermediary role between family capital and whether they are admitted to university. The intermediary role of participating in private tutoring is slightly greater than that of school quality differences; The difference in school quality between general high schools played an intermediary role between family capital and whether they were promoted to undergraduate colleges, while private tutoring did not play an intermediary role between family capital and whether they were promoted to undergraduate colleges.

Key words: family capital, private tutoring, higher education access, intermediary effect