More Chinese study in US
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail China Daily, November 12, 2013
Thanks to the rising family incomes, China continues to send more students to universities and colleges in the United States than any other nation.
 |
|
A student gets advice about studying in the United States during the Beijing International Education Exhibition. More and more Chinese students have headed to the US for undergraduate and graduate study in recent years. |
During the 2012/13 academic year, Chinese student enrollments increased by a hefty 21.4 percent annually to more than 235,000, according to the 2013 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, released on Monday.
According to the report from the Institute of International Education, the number of international students enrolled in US establishments of higher education in the academic year rose 7.2 percent to more than 819,000.
Of all international students in the US, 28.7 percent were from China. The rise in the number of undergraduate students from China was especially dramatic, increasing by 26 percent from the previous year.
Consultants said the number of Chinese students pursuing undergraduate education in the US had increased rapidly mainly because of the growing Chinese economy, as the cost of a four-year education in the US for a Chinese child is typically more than 1 million yuan ($163,000).
"As more families in China are becoming wealthy, an increasing number of Chinese parents can afford the high tuition and living expenses for their children to study for four years in the US," said Gao Yanding, founder of Yanding US-China Education, a consulting institute for Chinese students in the US.
Gao also said the advanced teaching and management methods, as well as the well-established knowledge systems in the US universities are attracting more and more Chinese students and their parents.
"The parents believe that in US universities, their children can get things domestic universities cannot offer," he said.
The ages of the students is another factor parents have to take into account when considering sending their children overseas, Gao said.
"Some Chinese parents don't want their children to study in the US too early, worrying that young kids cannot take good care of themselves, but when the children grow to 18 or 19 years old, it's time to let them go," he said.
A breakdown of the figures shows that 39.8 percent of Chinese students in the US were undergraduates, while 43.9 percent were graduates. The remainder included 10.2 percent in optional practical training, a US policy for international students on F-1 visas to work in the US for one year after graduation to get practical training to complement their field of study.
The report shows that students from the top three countries of origin — China, India and South Korea — now account for 49 percent of the total number of international students in the US.
But China was the only one of the three showing a rise in numbers, as enrollments from India and South Korea declined.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)