Chinese students’ college choice: targeting the U.S as the top study destination

2012-11-21This study explored the factors that influenced Chinese college-bound high school students’ college choice to the American universities and colleges as their study destination. In recent years, China has become the top source of sending Chinese students studying abroad and the Chinese students have become the largest international student population enrolled by the U.S universities and colleges, but the study of Chinese international student in the U.S higher education is not in the mainstream of any discipline. “Push and Pull” factor theory and a qualitative study was employed in this research. A sample of six Chinese undergraduate students who finished high school in China and were currently studying in U.S universities were selected to conduct the one-on-one qualitative interviews. Protocol questions were asked to the six Chinese respondents to identify what factors influenced students’ choice of study abroad in the U.S. The findings indicated that the U.S has become a very popular study abroad destination for Chinese college-bound high school students. The most important factors motivating Chinese students to study in the U.S are the high quality of education, along with English-speaking country, internationally recognized degree, immigration, and lifestyle. By understanding the concluded factors influencing Chinese high school students’ choice of studying in the U.S, the policy-makers and administrators in the American higher education can better understand Chinese international students’ needs and expectations of the U.S institutions