More Chinese students head out to US for college

World Today

U.S. Immigration data has shown that around a quarter million Chinese students are now studying in the United States. This is a 75 percent increase since 2011. 

While most students are getting in on the merit of their own achievements, concerns of cheating have grown. CCTV’s  Grace Brown reported the story from Beijing.

Li Ling is a sophomore at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, where she majors in finance. Ling hopes her overseas education and an internship in Beijing will help her land a job, as competition in China’s job market becomes stronger.

“If I graduate from this university, I can find more jobs in China… I think the education quality there is better,” Ling said. “In China, we only do homework and take the test. But in America we have to speak, to talk with each other. And we have always for to five students to make a group.”

In China, rote-learning and tests begin as early as Kindergarten. A broader education is one of the major selling points of a U.S. college. Almost a third of all foreign students in the U.S. are now Chinese, boosting business for education agencies in China.

Bei Guo is the deputy general manager for the study abroad division of EIC Group. Guo said the number of both graduate and undergraduate study abroad applicants has increased by about 30 percent, while the number of high school applicants has increased by about 50 percent. She also said that these applicants are getting younger and younger.

“Just recently, a father of an 8th grader asked me if we can provide a one stop shop solution for his son, because he wants his son to go to a top university in the U.S.,” Guo said.

EIC Group charges anywhere from 40,000 to 200,000 yuan, or between $6,500 to $33,000 for their services.

“Our job is to provide mentorship, to guide students through the application process, first of all helping them to find their interest and the right school that can fit with their interest,” Guo said. “Then setting up a personalized plan to prep their English capability, background and extra-curricular activities… The student will have to draft their own essay… and develop their own unique experience and extra-curricular activity.”

Meanwhile, some people are selling advance copies of the U.S. college entry exam, the SAT, online. Last year, the Education Testing Service, which administers the exam globally, found some students in China and South Korea knew the exam’s questions before the exam was even given. These problems could potentially hurt the chances of Asian students being accepted by U.S. universities in the future.

However, Bei Guo said many U.S. universities are becoming increasingly interested in China.

“We actually have developed quite a good relationship with a lot of schools in the U.S., especially those top ones. Actually inviting those professors or admission officers to come to China to give seminars and lectures, to help the students,” Guo said. “For example, University of Southern California. We invited their professors twice – more than twice – last year… to strengthen the universities presence in China.”