China internationalizing its education landscape

In 1995, the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing had 41 international students. In 2004, UIBE had around 1,000 international students and in one year this rose to 1,500 in 2005. The university now has 2,900 international students and rising.

China is booming as an international education destination, and UIBE’s director of international student accommodation, Zheng Shu Qi, is a well placed observer. His employer is now ranked 3rd for international students throughout China. He attributes China’s rise in appeal to a mature education system, very few entry requirements in Mandarin and teachers fluent in English. Of course, China’s role as a global superpower is another incentive to students.

And China also has a great scholarship policy for foreign students. In 2009, China’s Ministry of Education offered Chinese Government Scholarships to 174 countries: 18,245 foreign students were admitted, making up 8% of the total number of international students, which numbered 238,184 (source: Ministry of Education).

And Zheng interestingly lists other methods of attracting students that are employed such as free taster sessions and short term summer camps for foreigners currently in China as also helping to boost uptake.

Luuk Hoefsloot, a 21 year old Dutchman who originally came to China as a teacher, now finds himself a student of Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU). The BLCU is offering the best price to quality ratio. Another plus was that it was still possible to apply, while a few other universities had already closed their application process,” he explains.

For Kjellevold, a point of difference about studying in China is the set-up of its educational system so that all study – and even attendance – can count towards a final grade. She explains, ‘In Norway, our exams are 100% of our grade. In China, the grade is not only the exams, but also how you perform in class, how often you come to class and how well you do in the weekly tests, so you need to be on top of your work all the time.”

Cities outside of Beijing may benefit from seeming “undiscovered”, but this also means less of an infrastructure for international students. It took Beijing’s UIBE 16 years to go from 41 international students to 2,900; compare this with Yunnan University which currently has 800 international students on its campus. And in Beijing’s 70 universities and institutions, there are 25 universities offering courses for international students, compared with just 4 of 17 in Kunming, China’s 16th biggest city. Similarly, China’s fifth biggest city, Shenzhen has seven major universities, only one of which offers courses for international students.

This of course means significant room for growth, which China is reported to be keen on. Some institutions are noticeably stepping up their efforts: Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) – which is the only university in this vast country which has as its main aim the teaching of Chinese to foreigners - has set up branch schools in Korea, Singapore and Thailand, and launched joint undergraduate and postgraduate programs with universities in Japan, Korea, Thailand, the UK and the USA in recent years.