China's top colleges have become a breeding ground for the wealthy, with more than 1,500 billionaires appearing in an alumni-ranking list released on Wednesday. The list was released by cuaa.net, a website that provides services for college graduate associations across the country。

　　Based on research since 2003 on the careers of alumni of China's leading universities, the website ranks universities according to the number of their graduates who have become billionaires, top scientists, political leaders, and other prominent figures。

　　Tsinghua University won the title of "the cradle of billionaires", with 84 super rich who studied there - and who have a combined wealth of 300 billion yuan ($47.4 billion). Besides rich people, Tsinghua produced 49 political leaders, the highest number among the 30 universities on the list。

　　Nevertheless, Peking University ranked first. Though it produced fewer billionaires and politicians, it fostered 182 social scientists and 144 members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences or the Chinese Academy of Engineering - compared with Tsinghua's 18 social scientists and 141 academy members。

　　After Tsinghua University and Peking University, the list showed the figures from 28 other universities with successful alumni, including Renmin University of China and Fudan University。

　　Zhang Ming, a professor at Renmin University of China and an education columnist, said the rich alumni reflect trends in the society. "We are in an era in which people's greatest pursuit is wealth," Zhang said. "The universities listed happen to be the most prestigious universities in China, so they naturally attract the elite from across the country. "Although these universities may not have taught them the skills to create wealth, their campuses develop into platforms to allow the students to expand their social relationships, especially with wealthy people," Zhang said。

　　But Zhang also said that the primary mission of universities is not to teach students how to make more money. "Most Chinese universities still need to improve, in cultivating students' ability for innovation and for scientific research," he said。

　　Xiang Danni, a graduate of Peking University, thinks it is not proper to use distinguished alumni as a standard for rating a university. "People succeed for many reasons beyond university education. A university should never ignore its fundamental responsibility - education and research. So this ranking has little meaning, although it might briefly attract some readers' attention," Xiang said。

　　Zhao Wanwei, also a graduate of Peking University, thinks that the ranking is not convincing. "The list released neither names of the alumni nor rating standards, but only the numbers of wealthy alumni from each university. But it does reflect one hot issue - the cultivation of society's elite," Zhao said。

　　國內哪所大學造就的億萬富豪校友最多？誰又是培養杰出校友最多的高校？答案分別是清華大學和北京大學。根據中國校友會網昨日發布《2012中國大學杰出校友排行榜》，自改革開放30多年來，清華大學培養和造就84名億萬富豪校友，校友財富合計近3000億元，超越北大成為2012中國造富大學排行榜冠軍。 這次新公布的榜單共調研了我國政界、學界和商界三大領域的杰出人才合計近8000人。

　　其中，政界杰出人才1400多人，學界杰出人才3600多人，其中兩院院士2400多人，杰出人文社會科學家1200多人，此外還有商界杰出人才2600多人。在上述杰出人才中，1952年(含)以后畢業于北京大學的政學商界杰出人才最多，有456人，位居首位。其次是清華大學，有292人，名列第二。

　　從各指標綜合看，2012中國大學杰出校友排行榜總榜單仍是北京大學居首，其次是清華大學和中國人民大學。據中國校友會網總編趙德國介紹，在1999到2011年福布斯、胡潤、新財富等中國富豪榜等上榜的億萬富豪中，擁有高等教育背景的“知本富豪”有1580多人，約占全部億萬富豪總數的60.89%。

　　其中，清華大學培養和造就億萬富豪校友最多，有84名，校友財富合計近3000億元。此外，北京大學有82人，名列第二。從榜單上看，清華、北大兩校培養和造就的億萬富豪校友人數領先于其他大學，被外界稱為中國“億萬富豪搖籃”并不為過。

　　知識創造財富，優秀大學培養出的杰出人才成為億萬富豪是一件值得高興的事。但與此同時，我們也不應忘記那些兩院院士和社科學家，他們也是一所大學的驕傲。這份榜單的一個優點在于，它并不完全側重富豪，而是全方位地考量一所大學。