3.6 Chinese graduate students
… enrolled in the United States for every 100 additional graduates from colleges in China, according to a new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper.
China’s massive college expansion spilled over to the United States in the 2000s and 2010s, according to the paper, which has yet to be peer reviewed. Among its findings:
- More Chinese master’s students meant more students from other countries, too. Every four additional Chinese master’s students were associated with about one extra American master’s student, one more international undergraduate, and two new international master’s students.
- International Ph.D. students were crowded out. Each 10 additional Chinese master’s students displaced about one international Ph.D. student.
- Effects were most notable in STEM fields and at large public research universities.
- College-town economies benefited. More enrollment from China meant more local jobs.
The bigger picture: College enrollment in China exploded from 1 million in 1999 to 9.6 million in 2020, leading to a flood of graduate students hitting the international market. That rising tide lifted many boats at American colleges and college towns. But it now presents risks as the Trump administration restricts international enrollment, starving those colleges of high-paying students.
