单项选择题

Chinese College Students Flocking to U. S. Campuses Bo Sun knew next to nothing about football—or the state of Nebraska, for that matter—until he started looking for U. S. colleges and universities on the Internet. Now, as one of a growing number of Chinese students at the state"s flagship university, he catches every game he can. President Obama announced plans last month to "dramatically expand" to 100, 000 the number of U. S. students who study in China over the next four years, calling such exchanges "a clear commitment to build ties among our people in the steady pursuit of cooperation that will serve our nations, and the world. " But Sun, who grew up in China"s Jiangxi Province, is part of a surge already taking place in the other direction. In 2008 alone, 98, 510 Chinese graduate and undergraduate students poured into U. S. colleges and universities, lured by China"s emphasis on academic achievement and the prestige of U. S. higher education. China is second only to India when graduate students and undergrads are counted. But undergraduates such as Sun are the newer phenomenon. Nationally, an 11% growth in undergrad enrollments in 2008 was driven largely by a 60% increase from China, a report by the Institute of International Education(IIE)says. Graduate student enrollments were up 2%. U. S. colleges and universities have long welcomed students from China, where the higher education system can"t meet the demand. Two years ago, a record 10 million students throughout China took the national college entrance test, competing for 5. 7 million university slots. Because foreign undergraduates typically aren"t eligible for U. S. federal aid, colleges here can provide limited financial help. Now, thanks to China"s booming economy in recent years, more Chinese families can afford to pay. The increase also reflects a "strong dialogue" between the two countries, says U. S. State Department deputy assistant secretary Alina Romanowski. She says the recent growth can"t be pinned to specific changes in visa policy, but some U. S. college officials say they detect a friendlier attitude among U. S. embassies and consulates, which review visa applications. One key question for any country is whether visa-seeking students can prove they will return to their home country upon graduating from a U. S. college. "Because the Chinese economy has improved, students feel there are opportunities there waiting for them, " says Gretchen Olson, director of international programs at Drake University in Des Moines, where there are 28 undergraduates from China this fall, up from one in 2003. In turn, the United States has greatly benefited from hosting foreign students. They contributed nearly $18 billion last year in tuition and living expenses to the U. S. economy, including about $89 million in Nebraska, according to a November report from the Institute of International Education. Though it"s costly for colleges to recruit abroad, that population " has the potential to be a significant source of revenue, " says University of Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman. Nearly half(47%)of Chinese undergraduates, and 29% of all foreign undergraduates, receive some discounts on their tuition based on their academic record. But most international students, including Sun, pay the entire non-resident rate for tuition and fees—about $18, 000 this year. That"s money the school otherwise might not have seen, because Nebraska"s high-school-age population is declining. A legislative task force in 2003 encouraged its public institutions to " more actively recruit non-Nebraska high school graduates" —but with a caveat: They can"t " diminish the state"s priority of providing appropriate need-based aid to Nebraska"s high school graduates. " Nebraska, which admits any resident or non-resident who meets basic academic requirements, is largely spared the criticism sometimes aimed at more selective institutions. Among concerns voiced by USA TODAY readers in response to a story on the topic was whether American students were being denied entrance to more elite universities because slots were being set aside for students overseas. But Paul Thiboutot, admissions dean at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn. , which admits about 27% of applicants, says that argument misunderstands one of U. S. higher education"s greatest strengths. Although some American students may be displaced by those students, Thiboutot says it"s true "only if you"re looking at a single institution. It isn"t true when you look across the entire system of higher education and all the options. There"s no one being denied a good college education. " Moreover, it works both ways, he says. Carleton, which enrolled 18 Chinese freshmen this year, admitted no more than 10% of the 300 Chinese who applied. The author uses Bo Sun"s case to show the surge of Chinese students in the category of______.

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