Feb 12, 2012

Back to China

Sunday, February 12, 2012
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I've been back in China for about a week now after spending 6 weeks in the United States, mostly at my father's house in Poughkeepsie, New York. My father passed away about 2 months ago so the visit wasn't for a happy occasion, but it was nice to see some old family friends.

View of Hudson River near Poughkeepsie, New York
Anyway, the trip back to China went without any major problems - took a train from Poughkeepsie to New York City, then bus from Grand Central Station to John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport, then a plane from NY to Shanghai, then another plane from Shanghai to Xiamen. One thing I observed is that as international airports go, the U.S. might be starting to fall behind. JFK Airport seems old and inefficient compared to most of the airports in Asia that I've spent time in. Shanghai's airport, for example, is much more modern and better organized. The woman at the check-in counter at JFK seemed to go out of her way to be unhelpful (ignoring my request for a window seat and putting me close to the last row on both flights even though the Shanghai to Xiamen flight had quite a few free seats). Plus, you can't check luggage in at the check-in counter - you just get it weighed and tagged and then have to lug it to a separate scanning area (though not far away).

My international and domestic (within China) flights were both on China Eastern Airlines, China's second biggest airline and (like many major Chinese companies) majority owned by the Chinese government. The reason I chose China Eastern is simply that it was the cheapest flight I could find. Actually, I've flown China Eastern a few times now for the same reason (cheapest). While it doesn't compare with some other usually more expensive airlines such as Singapore or Korean Air, overall its not too bad. So far, I haven't experienced any significant flight delays and the on-flight service is decent although nothing spectacular. One gripe I do have is that the leg room on international flights seems to be a bit less than some other airlines (and at 5'10", I'm not excessively tall). 

I experienced serious jet lag after arriving in China which is unusual for me, but all I wanted to do was sleep for several days. After getting over the jet lag, I promptly caught a bad cold. Although not as cold as New York, it has been chilly here, especially in the evenings and my apartment has no heating and absolutely no insulation. My university did provide me with a space heater, but it only works for a very limited space - if I have it a couple feet away from me, only one side of me is still cold. I might have to go buy another. Anyway, the cold weather isn't supposed to last too long here since I'm in southern China. In the meantime, I'll have to keep sleeping with a T-shirt and two sweatshirts on.



  • Author: David Moser

Feb 9, 2012

Asian Students in America Increasing

Thursday, February 09, 2012
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The East-West Center in Hawaii (where I had the pleasure of attending several conferences in past years while teaching at Belmont University) just posted an interesting article, International U.S. Colleges Admit Surge of Asian Students, which discusses the growth in the percentage of Asian students studying at American universities. According to the article, 65% of international students at American universities were from Asia in the 2010-2011 academic year. 


Many American universities are actively recruiting students from Asian countries, mostly for their own financial benefit as foreign students usually pay higher tuition than American students. The article states that: "Among the leading places of origin, six of the top ten are Asian countries, with China, India, and South Korea ranking 1st, 2nd, and 3rd overall. The total number of students from these six countries account for over half, 55%, of all foreign students in the United States."


China tops the list with 157,558 students or 21.8% of foreign university students in America and I'm sure this number and percentage are very likely to continue growing. Teaching at two universities in China over the past two years and talking to many Chinese university students has, among many other things, made me aware that there's an increasing demand for quality higher education in China. China has been trying to fill that demand by opening new universities and expanding enrollment in existing ones, but I think the demand is still significantly greater than supply. 

As as a consequence of such rapid expansion, quality is sometimes sacrificed, especially in many of the for-profit colleges that now abound in China. Chinese students that want a top quality education (not to mention their demanding parents) are increasingly looking abroad if they can't get into the limited top-tier universities in China. China's incredible economic growth over the past several decades has also contributed by creating a growing upper middle class that can afford to send their children abroad and pay the typically much higher tuition charged by American (and European) universities.

In a previous post, I mentioned what I believe are some of the problems associated with the increasing number of Chinese students at American universities. In my opinion, the main problem is that some American universities will focus almost solely on the financial considerations (higher tuition from foreign students). While higher education is a business, in many ways like any other type of business and has to be concerned with income and funding, financial greed is likely to blindside some administrators into overlooking or simply ignoring other important factors such as language and cultural differences that may cause problems for Chinese students as well as American students and professors.

In addition to language and various cultural differences, Chinese higher education is much different in certain respects than American higher education. Chinese students studying at American universities will have to be adaptable and face serious challenges. While some will be able to do so successfully, others will not, especially as American universities begin accepting greater numbers of Chinese students, some of which will not. To date, the vast majority of Chinese students at American universities are the best and brightest (in terms of education background and standardized test scores). As American universities accept more Chinese students, the standards may fall (lower English proficiency, etc.). I don't intend to suggest that American universities shouldn't accept more Chinese students, but I do suggest that they should carefully consider the challenges that doing so may create.

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