Jaila Cramer got her first taste of China in June 2011 before her senior year at Oregon State University. Although she was only abroad for a month, being exposed to the culture, language and curriculum at Dongbei University whetted her appetite to continue her education overseas.
“After that experience and after having such an amazing time, I started looking at education and trends in opportunities” for employment upon graduation, says Cramer. “I knew I wanted to do my master’s abroad.”
Now, the Portland native is back in China pursuing her master’s degree in business and international economics at Nankai University in Tianjin.
Since the 2009-10 school year, China has become the top country for sending students to study at American colleges and universities. Approximately 25 percent of the 760,000 international students studying at American colleges and universities are from China. That number has grown since the 2011-12 school year when Chinese students made up 23 percent of the 194,000 international students here in the States, according to the Institute of International Education, a New York-based international education and training organization.
China’s decision to encourage its students to study in the United States is a stupendous jump since the country prevented students from doing so during the second half of the 20th century. These days, Chinese society values American university degrees since students receive a foundation in the liberal arts and are taught how to think creatively as opposed to the more rigid curriculum Chinese students receive at home.
But there’s a reverse phenomenon going on—more Americans are heading to China to supplement or complete their undergraduate and/or graduate education.
