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Opinion | America’s universities will welcome fewer Chinese students this year, thanks to rock-bottom Sino-US relations
- For many Chinese students, the dream of an American education has lost its lustre
- Some have had their study plans disrupted by the pandemic and tougher travel policies, others are put off by reports of anti-Asian hate crimes in the US
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It’s back-to-college time in the United States. Students are descending on university towns and cities, enjoying a few more days of summer before they become saddled with coursework, writing papers and exam preparation.
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At Cornell University and other prestigious colleges across the country, some 10 per cent of these students are Chinese. At first glance, it looks like a return to the days before the pandemic and the downward spiral of US-China relations.
Yet Chinese students, who in recent years have represented a third of all foreign students in the US, are not enrolling in the same numbers as before. And those who do bring with them new worries and concerns.
The optics of studying in the US, once the top choice for China’s elite and ambitious upper middle class, have dimmed. A glance at the international news confirms the perception that US-China relations are at an all-time low, but that’s only half the problem. News stories about rampant Covid-19, monkeypox, anti-Asian hate crimes and gun violence in the US are scary and not without foundation.
In a time of economic dislocation, the price tag of an American college education – arguably the best in the world, but also the most expensive – is daunting. Employment prospects after graduation have diminished both in China, where hiring is down, and in the US, where visa restrictions limit opportunities.
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