8,000 Chinese students in US expelled for low grades, academic dishonesty, breaking rules
PUBLISHED : Friday, 29 May, 2015, 2:55pm
UPDATED : Friday, 29 May, 2015, 3:59pm
Mandy Zuo
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A file photo of a successful Chinese student in the US. Roughly 15 per cent of Chinese students who studied there last year failed to graduate, including the 3 per cent who were expelled, according to a report.
As more wealthy and middle-class Chinese families send children abroad for what they believe is a better standard of education, a rising number of Chinese students are facing the threat of expulsion through difficulties in adapting to Western schooling.
About 8,000 Chinese students were expelled from American schools in the past year, according to a Pittsburgh company specialising in overseas education services.
Most were expelled because of a low grade point average (GPA) – as were most local students who were expelled. But academic dishonesty and rule violations among Chinese students also have been on the rise, said Andrew Chen, chief development officer of WholeRen Education, a consultancy for Chinese students in the US.
A survey of more than 1,600 Chinese students in the United States, from high school students to doctoral candidates, showed that low GPAs, academic dishonesty and low attendance were the top three reasons for dismissal, according to a report released recently by the company.
The 2015 “White Paper on Dismissal Issues of Chinese Students in the US” shows that 58 per cent of students surveyed were expelled from school because of low GPAs.
Academic dishonesty accounted for 23 per cent, while low attendance was the reason for nearly 10 per cent.
While dismissals due to low GPAs and low attendance had dropped, academic dishonesty and rule violations each rose by 1 per cent.
“Chinese students don’t take their academic studies seriously enough,” Chen said. “Many of them are irresponsible or short-sighted, or choose the wrong way to achieve high scores, or had no idea that they actually need to credit others when citing their sources.”
Poor academic discipline back in China was mainly to blame, he said.
“Most Chinese parents have a top-school complex,” he said, “They spare no effort to get their kids into the top 100 universities, sometimes even by making up records.”
Chen said that roughly 15 per cent of Chinese students in the US failed to graduate last year, including the 3 per cent of students who were expelled.
According to a 2014 report by the Institute of International Education, the mainland remains the largest source of foreign students in the US. Of the more than 274,000 enrolled for the 2013-2014 school year, about 8,000 were expelled, Chen said.
Unlike those studying in the US 20 years ago, who were mostly poverty-stricken and had to work hard to win scholarships, Chinese students today are mostly from well-off families and are often sent overseas because they failed to be admitted to a good school at home.
They are not as talented as the best students at home and face the disadvantages of culture shock, a language barrier and other reasons.
“In comparison, students from India speak English, and American society also gives much support to Africans students,” Chen said.
