COLUMBUS (Ohio): The United States and China are experiencing an exceptionally strong growth in educational exchanges.
The number of American students studying in China saw a big jump last year while Chinese students are enrolling in US universities in record numbers, said the Institute of International Education in a report on Monday.
The number of Chinese students studying at US universities rose by 20 per cent last year, while there was a 25 per cent rise in the number of American students studying in China, said the report titled 'Open Doors 2008'.
The institute's president Allan Goodman said: 'People used to go to China to study the history and language...but with China looming so large in all our futures, there's been a real shift, and more students go for an understanding of what's happening economically and politically.'
In the 2006-07 academic year, the latest for which figures are available, 11,064 Americans studied in China, a large jump from the 1,396 in 1995-96.
Overall, a record 241,791 Americans studied abroad in 2006-07, with sharp rises in the numbers going to Argentina, Ecuador, India and South Africa, and fewer going to Australia and Costa Rica.
While the traditional study- abroad sites for Americans - Britain, France, Italy and Spain - still attract more students, the report found China is now the fifth- most-popular destination.
'These days, nobody questions why you take Chinese and go to China,' said Ms Vanessa Folkerts, a junior at Princeton who has spent two summers in intensive language study in Beijing.
There are now hundreds of study-abroad programmes in China. While most include some language study, some focus on martial arts, herbal medicine, culture, history or business.
Last year, the institute's report found 7 per cent more international students at US universities than a year ago, at an all- time high of 624,000. Sixty-one per cent of them were from Asia.
India again sent the most students, followed by China and South Korea. Enrolment from Saudi Arabia jumped by 25 per cent, putting the country back in the top 10 for the first time since 1982, thanks to a new Saudi government scholarship programme.
The enrolment of Chinese students in American universities grew by 8 per cent in the autumn of 2006 and by 20 per cent last year, according to the institute.
News portal China Education said the Chinese Embassy in the US issued a record number of 37,000 study visas last year.
'There is a whole emerging middle class of Chinese, well over 300 million. Many are one-child families who are interested in sending their son or daughter abroad for higher education,' said Mr Duane Nellis, provost of Kansas State University.
The number of international students had plunged due to competition from other countries and tighter visa procedures after the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
International students and their families contribute more than US$15 billion (S$23 billion) annually to the US economy, according to a separate survey by the Association of International Educators released on Monday.
And they typically pay higher out-of-state tuition, so they are an important revenue source for colleges at a time when the supply of college-age American students is beginning to crest.
Out-of-state students pay an average US$515 more per credit hour at Michigan State University, where the number of new undergraduate Chinese students soared from 95 last year to 327 this year.
NEW YORK TIMES, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Studying abroad
THE annual report by the Institute of International Education found that a record number of American students are studying abroad.
There is also a rebound in the number of international students headed to the United States, which hit an all-time high of 624,000 last year.
- Top five destinations for US students abroad 1. United Kingdom 2. Italy 3. Spain 4. France 5. China
- Top five places of origin of international students studying in the US 1. India 2. China 3. South Korea 4. Japan 5. Canada Source: Institute of International Education
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