How to build new advantages to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in manufacturing sector is becoming more and more important especially when the traditional comparative advantages including labor costs are weakening. Using a unique quasi natural experiment in China that substantially expanded college access for high-school graduates starting in 1999, the paper applies the diff erence-in-diff erence-in-diff erences strategy to identify the eff ects of human capital accumulation on FDI. Empirical results show that cities with a higher level of human capital accumulation attract larger scale of FDI in industries with higher human capital intensity. This positive eff ect is more signifi cant in regions with higher quality educational resources, larger expansion of enrollment in the fi elds of science and engineering, higher level of trade facilitation and better institutional environments. In the long run, the accumulation of human capital can continue to exert a positive impact on FDI. Mechanism testing shows that the accumulation of human capital promotes the infl ow of FDI through improving the production effi ciency and expanding market size for foreign fi rms in China. From the perspective of the quality of FDI, we fi nd the accumulation of human capital promotes the entry of multinational companies which are large, R&D intensive and from skilled-labor-abundant countries, but does not impact the upgrading of FDI structure. This study is helpful for deepening higher education reform and enhancing the advantages of attracting FDI in manufacturing sector