More Chinese students take a U.S. study home

For decades, international students came to the United States with their own version of the American dream to immerse themselves at the world's best universities and secure a place in the world's greatest economy.Many still have that dream, but their journey no longer ends in this country.Take Yaqiang Wang, who will graduate Sunday with a Ph.D. in chemistry from UNC Chapel Hill. Yang spent five years in Chapel Hill labs, toiling on the intricacies of protein structures in cells. He has published five major papers in national science journals.

He has a promising future, but that future is likely in his homeland.Students came into America in the '90s, and most of them chose to stay here, said Wang, who also serves as president of Friendship Association of Chinese Students and Scholars.But for us, who came here in 2000s, we see better career opportunities and more colorful life back home.Yang is part of a surge of Chinese students who want a U.S. education they can take back home, where China's economic explosion offers opportunities once unfathomable.Last year alone, U.S. colleges and universities experienced a 30 percent jump in enrollment of Chinese students, who make up 18 percent of all international students in America. India and South Korea also send large numbers to the United States, while students in America from other countries such as Japan and Mexico are on the decline.

Last year, nearly 128,000 Chinese students were enrolled in American universities. The increase is playing out in the Triangle, too. In the past five years at UNC Chapel Hill, the population of Chinese students has jumped 56 percent. This year alone, the number of Chinese students rose 23 percent at Duke University and 21 percent at N.C. State.Also driving the increase is a surge in economic prosperity in China, giving more families the means to send their children to the U.S. to study. International students often pay the full cost of their education, unless they are recruited for doctoral programs.Students can also get a lot of exposure while studying in such universities and different course Software Engineering,Mechatronics and Intercultural Anglophone Studies.


We see a rising middle class in India and China, said Michael Bustle, director of the Office of International Services at N.C. State, which has more international students than any university in the state. "Even though percentage-wise it's not as great as our middle class, there are just so many people that even a small percentage increase equates to tens of thousands of new families who are able to send their children abroad.Universities in Asia are growing but can't accommodate all who want higher education, Bustle said, which is really pushed as a very important cultural, familial and governmental objective.The ultimate goal, though, has shifted, said Vivek Wadhwa, director of research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke.Six years ago, Wadhwa would ask international students if they planned to stay in the U.S. Almost all raised their hands.Now when I do the same thing with my Duke students, they look at me funny, saying 'Professor, what do you mean?'" Wadhwa said. "It's like they don't understand what that concept means anymore. To them, staying in America means staying for two or three years, getting an American company on their resume so it enhances their market value back home. It's no longer the ultimate destination where they expect to stay for the rest of their lives.In 2009, Wadhwa published survey results that showed only 6 percent of Indian students and 10 percent of Chinese students wanted to stay in the U.S. permanently. A majority, though, wanted to stay in the country for a few years after graduation to gain work experience; 55 percent of Indian students and 40 percent of Chinese students saw themselves returning home within five years.That reverse brain drain,as he calls it, is a disaster for the U.S. He points out that 60 percent of U.S. doctoral engineering graduates are foreign nationals.