Navigating US Colleges from China: The Role of Parents and Study Abroad Agency

• In Event: Evidence-based decision making in education
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Higher education SIG roundtable 1

Proposal

There also has been a significant increase in the number of Chinese undergraduate students in the U.S. In the year 2000/01, only 8,252 undergraduate students from China attended U.S. colleges and universities, accounting for about 15% of the total Chinese student population, whereas this number increased to 135,629 in the year 2015/16 and the percentage rose to 53% (Institute of International Students, 2015b). Hossler and Gallagher (1987) proposed the most widely used three-phase combined model, which outlines predisposition, search, and choice stages. Students develop academic aspirations to pursue higher education in the predisposition stage; gather information about institutions and set selecting criteria in the search stage; and choose a higher education institution to attend in the choice stage (Hossler & Gallagher, 1987). This model has been criticized for not being appropriately applicable for populations apart from white and middle- to upper-middle class students (Holland, 2014). Gao (2011) used this model to examine how cultural capital affected students’ three phases in college choice process in a Chinese context. This model is not an exact fit for the Chinese education system. However, this model could be applied to Chinese international students in the U.S. who have gone through the college-choice process to enroll in American higher education institutions.
This paper explores the college application process of Chinese international undergraduate students who study in American universities and colleges. This study aims to answer the following two questions: What factors influenced their decision to study in the U.S.? What preparations did they go through in the college application process?
For this pilot study, I recruited 5 Chinese international students from Spring City University (SCU), a research I university. I interviewed face-to-face in Chinese with them individually for approximately 45 minutes.
I found that though my interviewees made the final decision to study abroad after graduating from high school, the important others, including parents and relatives, played a significant role in this decision-making process. Though the students also showed willingness to pursue their undergraduate degrees in the US, their predisposition is influenced by their parents’ decision and support. Studying abroad provides a path for them to actualize the economic capital they possess into better educational opportunities, which would yield more returns in the job market than attending low-ranking Chinese universities.
All interviewees utilized private tutoring and study abroad agencies to prepare for and carry out application. Though the schools and private tutoring these students participated in emphasized language preparation, especially TOEFL test preparation, the language still poses one of the major barriers for them to study in the U.S. The lack of preparation on subject learning cannot be compensated by overemphasis on testing preparation. When talking about their experience with private college application counselors, they were all dissatisfied with how they selected schools and prepared their application. Interviewees complained that counselors were applying for safety schools to secure their admission instead of attempting to get them into better colleges. The interviewees’ lack of knowledge in the college application process leaves them vulnerable to counselors’ exploitation.

Author

• Lei Zhu, University at Buffalo