Objective To investigate the correlationship between education level and cardiac risk factors in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM). Methods The diabetic patients, who underwent diabetic complication assessment and had clinical data for cardiac risk factors screening were enrolled. The subjects were divided into 4 groups according to their education level. The controlling state of cardiac risk factors was compared between 4 groups. Results Totally 9921 patients entered the study. The diabetic patients carrying more than two cardiac risk factors (patients with metabolic syndrome) accounted for 57.3%. With the elevation of education level, the proportion of female patients increased; the blood pressure, heart rate, fasting plasma glucose(FPG), 2-hour postprandial glucose, HbA1c, HOMA-insulin resistance, total cholesterol(TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C), and urine albumin/creatinine ratio decreased; uric acid increased; the qualifying rate for control of TC, HDL-C, blood pressure, FPG, waist circumference and HbA1c increased gradually; prevalence of MS decreased. Conclusions The T2DM patients with low education level have lower qualifying rate of cardiac risk factors and carry more cardiac risk factors.