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.
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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