Importance of Sino-US education ties emphasized after drop in enrollments

A joint statement issued by the China Education Association for International Exchange and the US-based Institute of International Education on Monday underscored the importance of Sino-US cooperation in education and efforts to consolidate the results of the China-US Higher Education Dialogue held in New York in September.

Figures released by the institute on Tuesday showed that the number of Chinese students studying in the United States decreased in the last academic year.

In Monday's statement, the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to supporting the two-way flow of students, teachers, scholars, researchers, and administrative staff from universities.

September's dialogue reiterated the importance of cooperation in higher education and stressed that educational ties were a significant pillar of China-US bilateral relations, the statement said.

The two parties reached a consensus on collaboration between higher education institutes and agreed to promote opportunities for short-term exchange programs, internships, summer schools, cultural visits and research fellowships.

2023 Open Doors, a report on a census of international students in the US that was released by the institute on Tuesday showed that the number of international students in the US reached 1.05 million in the 2022-23 academic year, surpassing the number in the previous academic year — 948,000 — and rebounding to the peak level seen in 2018-19.

Chinese students accounted for approximately 29 percent of international students in the US in 2022-23, down from 33 percent the previous year.

Tian Wang, assistant vice-president of Vision Overseas, a subsidiary of New Oriental Education & Technology Group, said multiple factors may have affected the number of Chinese students studying in the US in the past year, including the COVID-19 pandemic, tensions in China-US relations and economic concerns.

"During the pandemic, the number of flights between the two countries drastically decreased, and visa processing was temporarily suspended," Tian said.

Hiccups in the bilateral relationship had also created uncertainties and sparked concerns among students who were planning to study in the US.

Tian said tuition fees in the US had increased, while the pandemic had an impact on the incomes of many Chinese families, prompting those who originally planned to study in the US to choose countries "with lower costs and shorter course durations".

However, Chinese students have been the largest group of international students in the US for 14 consecutive years, with India following close behind, the report said.

Tian said that after the downgrading of COVID-19 prevention measures and with other easing policies taking effect, more Chinese students were now willing to choose the US as their destination for further education.

In the first half of this year, US universities among Top 200 in the QS World University Rankings 2023 sent 11,276 offers to Chinese students who solely applied through New Oriental, while similar offers from the United Kingdom topped all countries with 19,347, according to data provided by the education group.

Over the same period, the number of Chinese students applying for F-1 student visas to study in the US surged by 44 percent year on year. A total of 44,762 students from the Chinese mainland were granted F-1 visas to study in the US, according to a report released by the US Department of State.