An Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange released on Nov. 17 inWashington DC finds that the number of international students at colleges and universitiesin the United States increased by 8 percent to a record high of 886,052 students in the2013/14 academic year. This growth has largely been driven by students from China.Chinese student enrollments increased by 17 percent in total to more than 274,000students, and the increase at undergraduate level was 18 percent. The report also foundthat more American students were choosing to study abroad as well, and China has nowbecome one of the five most popular host destinations for American students.
Peggy Blumenthal, senior counselor to the president of Institute of InternationalEducation, told journalists that there are several reasons for the growing number ofChinese students studying in the US. First of all, the rapid development of the Chineseeconomy allows more families to support their children in studying overseas. Secondly,some Chinese parents hope that their children will experience less pressure during theirstudies than in the academic hot-house of mainland China. Some Chinese students havealready set themselfves a future goal of working in the field of economic and tradecooperation between China and US. They want not only to study, but also to learn aboutAmerican culture. The US academic model of choosing your major after your freshmanyear is also popular with foreign students since they can have additional time to select theirfuture path.
