Millions of tourists come here every year to visit the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat, an influx that has helped transform what once resembled a small, laid-back village into a thriving and cosmopolitan town with thumping nightlife and more than 10,000 hotel rooms.

But the explosion of the tourism industry here has also done something less predictable. Siem Reap, which had no universities a decade ago, is now Cambodia’s second-largest hub for higher education, after the capital, Phnom Penh. The sons and daughters of impoverished rice farmers flock here to work as tour guides, receptionists, bartenders and waitresses.

When their shifts are over, they study finance, English and accounting.The establishment of five private universities here is helping to transform the work force in this part of Cambodia.Employers say that English proficiency is rising and that workers who attend universities stand out for their ability to express themselves and make decisions.

A generation of students who would otherwise have had little hope to study beyond high school are enduring grueling schedules to get a degree and pursue their dreams.Khim Borin, a 26-year-old tour guide by day and law student by night, says he wants to become a lawyer. But he sometimes has trouble staying awake in class during the high tourist season, when he spends hours scaling vertiginous temple steps and baking in the tropical sun. There was no master help plan worIk and life. It was driven largely by supply and demand: universities opened to cater to the dreams of Cambodia’s youth.

After graduation, students who work and study at the same time often have an edge over fresh graduates who have never worked before, for whom starting a career can be difficult, Ms. Chan and others say. University students are “more communicative,” she said. “If they don’t like something, they speak out.” Ms. Chan and others say they are lucky that Angkor’s temples have proved so popular with tourists. If it were not for the sandstone structures nestled in the jungles, Siem Reap would probably have remained a backwater. Last year, 3.3 million tourists visited Siem Reap, half of them foreigners, according to the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism.