Taipei, Taiwan – Jacintag grew up in Beijing and always imagined going to an American university.
Some of her happiest memories are tied to a US holiday where she loves to remember her trip to Disneyland and her aunt’s visit to Stanford University, where she attended graduate school.
“I remember thinking about how beautiful it was and how much I wanted to go there,” says the 17-year-old.
For decades, the majority of US international students have come from China, where American education has become known as the path to a better life. According to the International Institute of Education, its student population has increased from about 63,000 in the 2002-2003 grade to 372,532 in 2019-20.
However, it began to fall during the pandemic and never recovered. The number of Chinese students at US universities fell to 277,398 last year, falling 4% from the previous year, even if the total number of international students reached record highs. From 2023-24, India sent more students to the US than China for the first time since 2009.
The dramatic slowdown in China’s economy after the pandemic has played a role in the recession, as parents worry about rising costs of education in the US. (A year ago, USC announced that tuition fees for 2024-25 would be $69,904 compared to the previous grade’s $66,640.
China remains the top source of international students in California, and their tuition fees have long been helped to strengthen research and fame at schools such as USC, above, and UC San Diego.
(Damian Dovarganes/Applications)
Furthermore, rhetoric and propaganda coming from both governments disrupt efforts to promote educational exchanges and deeper understanding between the two countries.
Meanwhile, employment opportunities in China are scarce, unemployment rates among urban youths have reached record highs, with some families believing that their children will receive a more balanced education in the US
For families like GU, the calculations involved in making decisions – going to the US or staying home – are becoming more complicated.
China remains the top source of California international students, and their tuition fees have long been aided in strengthening research and fame at schools such as USC and UC San Diego.
But relations between the two countries, already tense during the Obama administration, continued to fight during President Trump’s first term. In 2018, Trump launched a Chinese initiative. This is a drastic program aimed at investigating the threat of spying and intellectual property theft, but has been criticized for unfairly targeting Chinese scientists and researchers.
The Biden administration scrapped the program, but doubts on both sides remained stubborn. Last summer, Secretary of State, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the US should limit Chinese students to the humanities, and more Americans and Indian students should study science and engineering.
After Campbell’s comments, the Beijing-based state-run tabloid Global Times said discrimination against Chinese students and academics had a “chilling effect” on people who once wanted to study or work in the United States. It says that it is. In the second term, Trump announced additional tariffs and immigration crackdowns against China.
Currently, a survey from China’s private education service provider, New Oriental shows that Chinese students wanting to go abroad are increasingly applying to universities outside the US. For the past five years, in part due to a more stable political environment.
Sabrinaou, a teacher at New Channel, is a Beijing English school and education consulting firm, and said it is becoming more popular due to the proximity of schools in Hong Kong and Singapore to China. Countries such as Canada and Australia with flexible visas and immigration policies are also attracting more applicants, she said.
“I have a question of whether studying abroad is really financially valuable,” Wu said. “Others generally feel more uncertain about their future and don’t feel like they’re going to move forward on a clear path.”
American universities are also trying to hedge bets.
Julian Fisher, managing director of venture education for a Beijing-based consulting firm, said the university is currently spending more resources on hiring in India and Nigeria, with more students than any other country in Africa. is dispatched to the United States.
“When we advise foreign universities on Chinese students, we tell them: you need to think that the numbers you have now may be the biggest numbers you have ever had.” Fisher said.
Students are looking for work at the Shandong University of Science and Technology campus fair in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China in September 2023.
(Future publications by Getty Images)
Nevertheless, the temptation of American education is a draw for some of China’s most ambitious students.
Xinyue Liu, a 16-year-old student from Nanjing, said her family is questioning the safety of American universities. She also has concerns about whether she will be fully welcomed in America. Still, she hopes that US liberal arts education will allow her to study a wider range of subjects than in China.
“When I was in middle school, I was worried that US-China relations would affect my plans. But over the years I realized that things really haven’t improved. , people are still going abroad,” she said.
Wei Zhou, a 54-year-old parent in Beijing, sent his eldest son to the United States as an undergraduate student. Her younger son is beginning to apply to college, so she thinks that an American degree is worth it. The financial burden is immeasurable compared to universities in Japan. She said there is an uncertain job prospect in both countries, adding that staying in the US after graduation is becoming more difficult. Meanwhile, parents say Chinese companies are less likely to hire international alumni than before.
“In China, it’s becoming mainstream to think that undergraduate education in the US is no longer attractive,” she said. “In the past, studying abroad was considered honorable, but now it appears to be a turning point.”
When Gu’s mother, Ou Cai and Father Lingwei Gu were in school in the 1990s, the Chinese economy was booming, with many foreign companies opening offices in China. They knew the students who studied abroad, but they didn’t feel the need to leave. However, with China’s economy slowing down, CAI said it’s more important than ever for GU and her 15-year-old sister to experience life abroad.
“Those who were staying in China during that time benefited greatly. The purchase of real estate was affordable and the job market was thriving,” says Cai. “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 at school, her mother encourages her by reminding her that one day she will study in the US.
Her father is so stubborn and now prefers GU to be close to home. National university qualifications can be more advantageous than US degrees, especially at state-owned institutions. He took his daughter on campus tours at some of China’s finest universities, including Peking University and Tingia University in Beijing. They were charming, but Gu says she can’t shake up her childhood memories in the US
Gu’s parents say they believe they compromised – Gu earned a bachelor’s degree in China and can apply to graduate school in the US, but GU waited, so much so Chinese students I’m worried that it’s going to be even more difficult. Studying in the US
“It seems like it’s getting more difficult to go abroad than before,” she said. “It makes me feel a little worried about whether things may change in the future.”
Cai hopes under Trump that the US will not drive away any promising students like her daughter. She is relieved by his campaign promise to grant green cards to all foreign university graduates, and sees his actions as an effort to specifically 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 remove very misunderstandings and conflicts.”
Gu’s father also dispelled Trump’s most inflammatory rhetoric and challenged his experience as a businessman. What makes America great is the acceptance of immigrants. It was difficult to imagine that he would stop immigration entirely by the United States.
“If not, the US would no longer be the US,” he said.
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