‘应届’ (yìng jiè) literally combines ‘应’ (yìng), meaning ‘to respond to’ or ‘current/this,’ and ‘届’ (jiè), meaning ‘session,’ ‘term,’ or ‘graduating class.’ Together, they refer specifically to students who are graduating in the current academic year — i.e., fresh graduates who have not yet entered the workforce or pursued further studies. It is a formal, institutional term commonly used in education, employment, and government contexts.

The word appears almost exclusively before nouns like ‘毕业生’ (bìyè shēng, graduate), ‘生源’ (shēngyuán, student recruitment source), or ‘高校’ (gāoxiào, university). Unlike general terms like ‘新毕业生’ (xīn bìyè shēng), ‘应届’ carries administrative weight: many job openings, civil service exams, and internship programs in China explicitly restrict eligibility to ‘应届毕业生’ — often for up to two years after graduation, depending on policy. Its usage signals timeliness, eligibility, and official status within structured systems.