The China Conundrum

The China Conundrum” was an interesting article about the influx of Chinese students coming to the United States to our universities. The number of Chinese undergraduates in American Colleges has tripled in the past 3 years and is nearly 40,000 students strong. Most of these students are accepted with a “conditional acceptance” whereby the student has to spend several months in an English proficiency course.

The United States and several of its colleges are eager to increase not only the diversity at the university level but also expand internationally. Many colleges are sending recruiters to China to promote their university and their programs. Unfortunately, the US is excited for the new international students but have been slow to adjust their admissions processes for the students, slow to create viable programs that integrate the international students into their university setting, and slow to adjust the classroom setting to accommodate for the needs of the language barriers.

Some encouraging news about the students from China is the fact that due to the “one child policy” in China, most Chinese are fairly affluent and most can afford to pay the non resident tuition rates. But as many colleges try and point out, it is not about the money. I have to disagree on this point because most everything is about the money when it comes to college campuses. However, it seems that these very campuses may have to start using the additional funds from these international students to make sure they are prepared to integrate them into the college environment and deal with some of the cultural differences. More training for faculty, more programs offers to make the students from China feel more welcome, etc.

The biggest issues seems to stem from the admissions of these students. There are many education agents, intermediaries, and other services that assist the international students to getting accepted at the US universities. One student from Shanghai worked with a recruiting agency and paid $4,000 for their assistance. They completed her applications and even produced her admissions essays. They supposedly asked her the questions and then wrote the essays for submission. Unfortunately, the American colleges are accepting students that may not have the English skills for them to succeed. There is talk about doing more interviewing of the students for international admissions. Great concept, but the distance proves to be a problem. Skyping for admissions interview to get a sense of reediness? Again, a possible solution but a creation of new problems.

Increasing in numbers is both the international students but also the number of fraudulent transcripts, test scores (Toefl tests), and application information. At Kansas State University, they admitted a group of students from China based on test scores reported to them but as they arrived for their first course, the picture taken at the Toefl exam did not match the student that was enrolled in the courses. (Toefl exams are the English language tests used for most international admissions to US schools). Also, as KSU, the admissions counselor for the international students found a set of three transcripts that were completely identical with the exception of the students’ name. Unfortunately, there are some of the “recruiting agencies” that are also acting fraudulently on behalf of these students. Most of the Chinese students do not really care “how” they get in, they just want to get in.

I am completely supportive of diversity and of bringing international students to our campuses. But, I do hope that as the numbers continue to increase, the means of determining the honest applications and test scores becomes easier to assess. Maybe that means that every international student has to go through the conditional acceptance whereby they have to pass the exams offered at the university to ensure the are college-level ready in their English skills.