American students lose interest in studying in China

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American students lose interest in studying in China

Lack of job opportunities and pollution blamed as number of Americans studying on mainland drops, while Chinese clamour for a US education

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 14 March, 2015, 1:26am
UPDATED : Saturday, 14 March, 2015, 1:26am

Reuters in Shanghai



American students' interest in language studies in China is waning. Photo: Imaginechina

Americans are getting cold feet about studying Chinese in China, with many study abroad programmes experiencing a substantial drop in enrolment.

At the University of California Education Abroad Programme (UCEAP), student enrolment in programmes in China is expected to be less than half the level it was four years ago. Washington-based CET, another study abroad group, says interest in China has been falling since 2013.

The apparent waning of interest worries some China watchers. Given the importance of the US-China relationship, having a group of Americans across various industries who speak Chinese and understand the culture is "a matter of national interest", says Robert Daly, director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Wilson Centre in Washington.

"We can't respond coherently, effectively and fully to China unless we understand China on its own terms," he said.

The Institute of International Education says the number of US students studying in China fell 3.2 per cent in 2012-13 to 14,413, even as overall study abroad numbers rose modestly.

American students' apparent loss of interest contrasts with Chinese students' clamour for a US education. The number of Chinese studying in the US jumped 16.5 per cent in 2013-14 to more than 274,000.

For US students, China's notorious pollution is a concern. Job opportunities are another. As multinationals in China hire mostly locals, a growing percentage of whom have studied abroad, they have less need for foreigners who speak Chinese.

"I came to China thinking I could learn Chinese and get a high-paying job. I learned very quickly that was not the case," said Ian Weissgerber, a 25-year-old American graduate student in China.

"A lot of Chinese can speak English just as well as I can, and Chinese is their native tongue too."

Gordon Schaeffer, research director at UCEAP, says surveys suggest the decline might also reflect students' migration to science and technology majors.

Wang Huiyao, president of the Centre for China and Globalisation, says there are too few agents in the US bringing students to China, and bemoans the US government's inability to force universities to send more.

When students do come to China, they are coming for shorter periods of time, and often more for travel than study.

Enrolment in entry level Chinese is almost half the level of 2007 at Middlebury College in Vermont, renowned for its language instruction.

"It really comes down to money," says John Thomson, a veteran China study abroad executive. "You're taking yourself out of the job market for a couple years to study an extremely difficult language with no guaranteed pay-off at the end."

Xiong Bingqi, an education researcher with the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said Chinese students often learnt English to watch Hollywood movies or US television. "Should we also promote Chinese movies or TV shows to attract American students to learn Chinese?" he asked.

Additional reporting by Laura Zhou




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