There has been, in recent years, a massive increase in students from China studying at institutions of higher education in the United States. According to a 2011 report in the Washington Post, there were at that time 157,558 students from China studying in the U.S., a jump of 23% from the prior year, and 43% for undergraduates only (Johnson 2011). Raul Choudaha and Li Chang believe this exponential growth to be attributed to the higher number of high school students in China who can afford an education in the U.S. and the lack of high-quality spots for students within China. A Chicago Tribune article also indicates that there is a bottleneck of spots at top Chinese universities, and that the reputation of U.S. schools is also a draw (Schoenburg, 2012).
The problem this presents is that, with the exponential increase in Chinese students studying in the U.S., programs are having to adapt to the new challenges this can present. While many students integrate well after an initial adjustment period, this initial adjustment period still must be taken into account. George Borjas claims that it costs much more to train foreign students, thus offsetting the gains made by their usual payment of tuition in full. To determine if this trend is good for China, the Chinese students themselves, and the programs they enter in the United States, we will look at the outcomes of Chinese students in comparison to other students in similar programs.
References:
Borjas, G. (2007). “Do foreign students crowd out native students from graduate programs?”, in (P. Stephan and G. Ehrenberg, eds.), Science and the University, pp. 134–49, Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Choudaha, Rahul and Chang, Li. “Trends in International Student Mobility (February 1,
2012). World Education News & Reviews, 25(2), February 2012. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com.abstract=2184988.
Johnson, Jenna (November 14, 2011). “Chinese Students Enroll in Record Numbers at
U.S. Colleges.” The Washington Post: Campus Overload Blog. Available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/campus-overload/post/chinese-students-enroll-in-record-numbers-at-us-colleges/2011/11/14/gIQAyYlKLN_blog.html.
Schoenburg, Nara (November 19, 2012). “Chinese College Students Flock to the U.S.”.
Chicago Tribune. Available at http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-11-19/news/ct-met-chinese-students-20121119_1_chinese-students-chinese-system-chinese-equivalent.
