Whether industrial structure upgrading and postgraduate training are coordinated is the key to the revitalization and development of Liaoning Province. By constructing a comprehensive evaluation index system, the evolutionary characteristics of the coupled and coordinated development of the two systems in Liaoning Province from 2012 to 2022 and their influencing factors were analyzed. It is found that the development level of both systems in Liaoning Province has made significant progress, but the trend of industrial structure upgrading lagging behind graduate training is becoming more and more obvious. The overall level of coordination in Liaoning Province has improved year by year, transitioning from on the verge of dissonance to good coordination. Among them, Shenyang and Dalian have reached the state of good coordination, while other areas are still in the state of dysfunction. In the industrial structure upgrading system, the Tel index and total factor productivity have a greater impediment to coordinated development. And in the system of postgraduate training, the number of enrolled students, education expenditure and the number of master's degrees granted are the main hindering factors. In addition, the level of economic development and the development of the central city have a positive effect on the coordinated development of the two systems.