Chinese students turn away from US universities with Britain the big winner

Unfriendly policies, an out-of-control pandemic and social unrest add up to a decline in popularity for overseas study

American institutions still regarded as best in the world but other countries are surging up the charts as preferred destinations

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US universities are at risk of losing out as Chinese students increasingly look to continue their studies in other countries. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:00pm, 18 Jul 2020Updated: 10:43am, 19 Jul 2020

It was a tough decision for mainland university graduate Zancy Duan to give up her coveted place at a US Ivy League school.

Duan, from China’s eastern province of Zhejiang, had been admitted by Cornell University as a candidate for a master’s degree, along with admissions from several other American schools. But at the end of April, with the coronavirus pandemic at its peak, she rushed to apply for European universities.

“Besides the Covid-19 pandemic, a string of unfriendly policies by President Trump towards international students; his blame on China as the cause of the coronavirus disease; and the current security situation affected by the Black Lives Matter movement – all gave me a sense of unease,” Duan told the South China Morning Post.

“Therefore, from policy and security perspectives, studying in the US was not a good option for me at this moment. Actually, many of my friends who had planned to study in the US have instead applied for Singapore, Hong Kong or European schools in the past few months.”

For decades, the US has been the top choice for Chinese students seeking to continue their studies abroad. The latest statistics from China’s Ministry of Education showed overseas Chinese students increased from 285,000 in 2010 to 662,000 in 2018.

Since 2009, China has been the biggest source of international students for American schools. One in three of the more than one million overseas students in the US comes from China. But now, Chinese students are having second thoughts and this year marks a big change in their choices.

Britain surpassed the US for the first time as year as their preferred overseas study destination, according to a report by the Beijing-based New Oriental Education & Technology Group, an overseas study agency also famous for its English teaching.

A survey of 6673 Chinese students by the company found 42 per cent hoped to study in Britain compared to just 37 per cent who nominated the US. It is a significant turnaround to four years ago when 30 per cent of respondents hoped to study in Britain while 46 per cent planned to study in the US.