Worker-Peasant-Soldier students (工农兵学员) were Chinese students who enrolled in colleges between 1970 and 1976, during the later part of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). They were all accepted not for their academic qualifications, but rather for the "class background" of their parents. Children of workers, peasants, and soldiers were "Five Red Categories" and enjoyed privileges during the Cultural Revolution.
Due to the far-left political climate of the times, Worker-Peasant-Soldier students devoted much time to learning Maoism rather than real-world knowledge or skills. A great number of them had only attended primary school or middle school before college. As a result, most were unable to find jobs upon graduation.
Worker-Peasant-Soldier students became history in 1977 after Mao Zedong's death, when Deng Xiaoping reinstated the National Higher Education Entrance Examination.