Pay attention to the new trend of
studying abroad-the demand for
studying abroad continues
to increase and the destination is more diverse
A few days ago, the "Report on the Development of Overseas Studies in China (2020-2021)" (referred to as the "Report"), jointly researched and compiled by the Globalization Think Tank and the Development Research Institute of Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, was officially released, which showed that the new crown pneumonia epidemic did not significantly affect Chinese students going abroad. The actual demand for studying abroad, the number of Chinese studying abroad continues to maintain a positive growth, and the era of diversified destinations for Chinese students studying abroad is coming.
At the same time, the number of overseas students returning to China continues to increase, and having an international perspective has become the core competitiveness of many overseas students.
The number of students studying in the United States may encounter an inflection point
The "Report" believes that under the influence of unilateralism and protectionism, international relations have been impacted, and the global trend of studying abroad is shifting to open regions; the sudden global new crown pneumonia epidemic has brought new challenges to the development of global study abroad.
The continuous spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic globally has brought a certain negative impact on Chinese students choosing to study abroad, but because the Chinese education system is still in the stage of development and improvement, and the experience of studying and living abroad under the development of globalization still has Certain competitiveness and attractiveness, so Chinese students' demand for international high-quality higher education has not fundamentally changed.
Studying abroad is still an important development direction, but it will be delayed during the spread of the global epidemic.
The United States remains the number one destination country for Chinese students studying abroad.
However, a set of data in the "Report" is worth noting: Although the total number of students studying in the United States has increased in the past 15 years, the growth rate has not changed significantly since the 2009-2010 school year.
Combined with the current development of the epidemic and other factors, the number of Chinese students studying in the United States may encounter an inflection point in the 2020-2021 school year.
More and more students are setting their sights on countries and regions with more friendly study environment and visa policies, and more effective epidemic control.
The latest "Open Door Report 2020" released by IIE (American Association for International Education) also reflects this trend from the side.
Statistics show that there are nearly 1.08 million international students receiving higher education in the United States in the 2019-2020 academic year, a decrease of 1.8% from the 2018-2019 academic year. This is the first decline in the number of students studying in the United States after the 2008 economic crisis.
The trend of popularization of studying abroad is more obvious
The "Report" shows that under the current international situation, the destination countries for Chinese students to study abroad are showing a more diversified development trend.
According to the statistics in the "Report on the Status of Study Abroad under the New Normal of Qi Tak Education" released on July 18, 2020, the proportion of international students who choose to go to Japan, Singapore, and New Zealand has all increased slightly.
At the same time, self-financed study abroad is still the most important group in China to study abroad, and the trend of popularization of study abroad is more obvious.
The "Report" pointed out that the funding from parents, relatives and friends is still the most important source of overseas study expenses for Chinese university graduates, and the proportion of this source has shown a steady upward trend from 2013 to 2018, rising from 89% in 2013 to 94.2% of the 2018 class.
On the other hand, the proportion of students who rely on foreign universities or foreign institutions to subsidize studying abroad has been declining year by year.
With the further opening of international education resources, the relatively relaxed and friendly study abroad, employment and immigration policies of the main destination countries for studying abroad, Chinese students have more diversified options for studying abroad, and more children from ordinary Chinese families. Have the opportunity to study abroad.
Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, many foreign universities have experienced funding tightening or even severely restricting school development. The "Report" believes that this situation may objectively encourage more foreign universities to participate in the competition to attract international students. It may be a window period for choosing to study abroad, but the competitive pressure of the world's top universities will increase.
The "Report" recommends that students can apply to multiple overseas universities in different countries and regions at the same time, and apply for domestic internships while applying for overseas universities, so as to accumulate experience in related fields. This can also avoid the application of Chinese students from European and American universities to a certain extent. Competition risk arising from rising rates.
"Study abroad" has become an alternative option during the epidemic
Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the world that once focused on offline interconnection has transformed into a model based on online interconnection through the development of information technology, and many students' study abroad life has also turned to online learning.
The "Report" believes that due to the different ways and determination to fight the epidemic, the epidemic may more profoundly affect the willingness and enthusiasm of students to choose to study abroad for a period of time in the future, and the impact on international education and the entire study abroad industry. Development has a profound impact.
Although studying abroad has been hindered to some extent in the short term, at the same time, studying in Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run universities is becoming a new alternative.
Especially during the epidemic period, the entities of Sino-foreign cooperative education and the Chinese colleges and universities with good cooperative relations of Sino-foreign cooperative education projects have become important carriers for Chinese students who should study in overseas cooperative colleges to carry out online and offline learning.
The "Report" believes that under the guidance of national policies, the cause of Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools is booming, but problems such as uneven distribution of Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools in the east and west and uneven quality of running schools still exist.
At the same time, relevant departments need to in-depth study the mechanism of Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools to effectively promote foreign cooperative universities to better play the role of international talent training in China.
In addition, increase support for Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools, and attract more world-renowned universities to establish branch campuses in the innovation pilot zone.
This can not only reduce the negative impact of the epidemic and the tightening of the study abroad policy in major destination countries, but more importantly, from a long-term perspective, it can also promote the reform and innovation of China's education and teaching systems.
Sun Yahui