Why Chinese students still want to attend our university

Taipei, Taiwan – Jacinta GU grew up in Beijing and always thought he was going to college in the United States.

Her happiest memories have to do with holidays in the United States, and she loves to recall her trip to Disneyland and visit Stanford University where her aunt attended graduate school.

“I remember thinking about how beautiful it is, how much I want to go there,” the 17-year-old said.

For decades, most international students in the United States have come from China, where American education has been called the path to a better life. According to the International Institute for Education, the number of students rose from approximately 63,000 in the 2002-03 academic year to 372,532 in 2019-20.

But it began to decline during the pandemic and never recovered. Last year, the number of Chinese students at U.S. universities fell to 277,398, a 4% drop from the previous year, even as the total number of international students reached record highs. During the 2023-24 school year, India sent more students to the United States for the first time since 2009.

The sharp slowdown in China's economy played a role in the recession after the pandemic, as the yuan declined and parents feared rising costs of U.S. education. (A year ago, USC announced tuition fees for 2024-25 at $69,904, compared with the previous academic year at $66,640, which excludes meals, housing or supplies.)

Furthermore, speech and propaganda from both governments are undermining educational exchanges and working to promote greater understanding between the two countries.

On the other hand, job opportunities in China are becoming increasingly scarce, urban youth unemployment has reached a record high, and some families believe their children will receive a more comprehensive education in the United States

For families like GU, the calculation of making decisions (going to the United States or staying at home) becomes increasingly complex.

China remains a major source of international students in California, whose tuition fees have long helped strengthen research and reputation in schools such as the University of California and the University of California San Diego.

But relations between the two countries, which had been tense during the Obama administration, continued to be in trouble during President Trump's first term. In 2018, Trump launched the China Initiative, a comprehensive plan to investigate threats of espionage and intellectual property theft, but was criticized for unfairly targeting scientists and researchers of Chinese descent.

The Biden administration scrapped the plan, but suspicion remains. Last summer, Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the United States should limit Chinese students to the humanities and encourage more Americans and Indian students to study science and engineering.

After Campbell's comment, Beijing's State-owned Tabate Global Times wrote that discrimination against Chinese students and scholars had a “creepy effect” on those who once wanted to study or work in the United States for him. Trump announced additional tariffs on China and crackdown on immigration, which could further escalate tensions.

Now, according to a survey by New Oriental, a private education service provider in China, a survey in the UK is that Chinese students seeking to go abroad are increasingly applicable to universities outside the United States, and the UK has surpassed the United States to become The preferred country for Chinese students studying abroad over the past five years is partly due to a more stable political environment.

Schools in Hong Kong and Singapore are becoming increasingly popular due to their proximity to China, Sabrina Wu, a teacher at New Channel, a Beijing-based English school and education consulting firm. Countries with flexible visas and immigration policies such as Canada and Australia also attracted more applicants, she said.

“Some questions are whether studying abroad is really worth it,” Wu said. “Others feel more uncertain about their future and feel like they don't see a way forward.”

American universities are also trying to hedge their bets.

Julian Fisher, managing director of education, a consulting firm based in Beijing, said universities now spend more resources on recruiting in India and Nigeria than in any other country in Africa.

“When we provide advice to overseas universities about Chinese students, we tell them: You need to consider that the number you have now is probably the largest number you have ever seen,” Fisher said.

Students are looking for jobs at the campus expo of Shandong University of Science and Technology in Shandong Province, China in September 2023.

(Future publication via Getty Images)

Nevertheless, the temptation of American education has attracted some of China's most ambitious students.

Xinyue Liu, a 16-year-old student in Nanjing, said her family had questions about the safety of American universities. She also worried about whether she would be fully welcomed in the United States. Despite this, she still hopes that American liberal arts education can learn more subjects than China.

“When I was in middle school, I was worried that U.S. relations would affect my plans. But over the years, I realized that things didn't really improve, but people are still abroad,” she said.

Wei Zhou is a 54-year-old parent in Beijing. Her eldest son was sent to the United States as an undergraduate. Now that her youngest son is starting to apply for college, she wants to know if the degree in the United States is worth it. She said the financial burden will be huge compared to domestic universities, with job prospects in both countries uncertain, adding that it is becoming increasingly difficult to stay in the United States after graduation. At the same time, Chinese companies are less inclined to hire international graduates than ever, parents said.

“In China, it is believed that undergraduate education in the United States is no longer attractive,” she said. “In the past, studying abroad was considered prestigious. But now it seems to be reversed.”

When Gu's mother Ou Cai and Lingwei Gu's father went to school in the 1990s, China's economy flourished, and many foreign companies opened offices in China. Although they know students studying abroad, they don’t need to leave. But as China's economy slows down, CAI said life abroad has become more important than ever for GU and her 15-year-old sister.

“Those who stayed in China during this period benefited a lot. It is affordable to buy properties and the job market is booming,” CAI said. “Times have changed. The opportunities we once had here no longer exist.”

GU's parents began discussing her education in the United States before she was born. When Gu struggles in school, her mother will remind her that one day she will study in the United States to encourage her

Her father is not very determined and now prefers GU to be closer to home. Qualifications from domestic universities may have an advantage over American degrees, especially in state-owned institutions. He has friends who take his daughter on campus trips to some of China's best universities, including Peking University and Tsinghua University in Beijing. They are fascinating, but Gu says she can't shake her childhood memories of America

GU's parents said they think they've made a compromise – GU could get her undergraduate degree in China and then apply to graduate school in the U.S., but GU is worried that the longer she waits, the more difficult it will be for Chinese students. Difficulties in the United States

“It seems to be getting harder to go abroad than before,” she said. “It makes me a little anxious so things may change in the future.”

CAI hopes that under Trump, the United States will not refuse students who promise like their daughter. His campaign promise to grant green cards to all foreign university graduates reassured her and believed his actions were dedicated to efforts to curb illegal immigration.

“Chinese students are really smart and really want to connect with the world,” she said. “I think only through these connections can we get rid of so many misunderstandings and conflicts.”

Gu's father also refuted Trump's most inflammatory remarks, attributed to his experience as a businessman. He believes that what makes America great is the acceptance of immigration. It's hard for him to imagine that America has stopped immigration altogether.

“Otherwise, the United States will no longer be the United States,” he said.