Although Lee's academic record was excellent, Taipei's first and second high schools usually admitted only one Taiwanese a year, reserving the remaining places for Japanese. And Lee was further disadvantaged by the poorer quality of education in elementary schools outside the big cities.
雖然成績優異，但由於當時的台北一中、二中，在每年招考的新生中，通常只有一名台灣人可以被錄取，其他名額都要留給日本小孩；加上市郊小學和市內究竟有段程度差距，因此李登輝在鎩羽而歸的情況下，其後才轉入淡水中學。