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The competition for university seats in China is fierce, as is the competition for Chinese students who desire to study in English-speaking countries. The purpose of this study was to identify factors which motivate Chinese students to choose or reject the English-speaking countries of Australia, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom for an overseas education. Online surveys were distributed, through snowball and convenience sampling, to university students in Hangzhou, China. Survey respondents ranked ten factors, which influenced their decision about overseas study, according to importance. Australia, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom as study destinations were compared based on these criteria. Using descriptive statistics and analysis of variance, it was found that the two factors most influencing country choice were ranking of the university and cost of living and tuition. The least important factor was possibility for immigration to the host country. Responses varied depending on demographic data, most notably, socioeconomic status. Perceptions of the four countries were further examined according to student responses.
Keywords: Chinese student, overseas education, brain drain, higher education, university ranking
INTRODUCTION
Research Topic
Today, the Chinese student is a powerful and unique consumer. As beneficiaries of China's unprecedented one-child policy and members of a society which highly regards education, Chinese students' educational choices have a global impact. Recent economic prosperity in China has afforded more opportunity for overseas education by Chinese students; the expectation is that this trend will continue. In understanding the needs of the Chinese student-as-consumer, foreign universities open doors to an increasingly lucrative market and can better recruit students that match their institutional mission. Between 1978 and 2000, China exported more than 300,000 students overseas, and it is projected that by 2025, foreign universities will enroll over 645,000 Chinese students yearly (European Commission Research, 2007). Currently, China is the largest exporter of international students, comprising 15.2% of international students enrolled in higher education outside of their home country and contributing to more than one quarter of the United States' foreign student population (Institute of International Education, 2013; Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, 2007).
The primary research questions driving this study are: What factors influence the country which Chinese students choose for study abroad? Among Chinese students who want to study...