Recklessly recruiting Chinese students

Universities hit for compromising quality education for money

By Chung Hyun-chae

Local universities' reckless drive to recruit Chinese students has cast a shadow over their efforts to globalize their campuses through admitting more international students.

Education experts point out that colleges and universities have resorted to recruiting as many Chinese students as possible in their blind pursuit of money, without having proper programs to cater to their needs and provide quality education.

In many universities, Chinese students account for more than half of the entire foreign student body. The excessive proportion has a negative effect on diversity and has caused problems and conflicts for local students and other international students.

Five Seoul-based universities have the largest numbers of Chinese students who make up as high as 85 percent of the total foreign student body.

Kyung Hee University has 2,662 Chinese students as of 2015, the most among all Korean universities. They represented 65 percent of the total 4,098 foreign students.

Dongguk University ranked second with 2,189 Chinese students (78.7 percent), followed by Konkuk University with 2,182 (85.4 percent), Korea University with 2,151 (53.5 percent) and Sungkyunkwan University with 1,856 (60.8 percent).

Across the country, 147 universities have more Chinese students than all other international students. When two-year colleges and graduate schools are included, the number jumps to 540.

This indicates that the problem is more serious among institutions located in provincial cities, as some even hire brokers to recruit students from China who are mostly not eligible for post-secondary education.

The total number of foreigners studying in two-year colleges and four-year universities increased to 91,332 in 2015 from 84,891 in 2014 and 85,923 in 2013, according to the Ministry of Education. The figure stood at 86,878 in 2012 and 89,537 in 2011.

The number of Chinese students here hit a record high of 60,935 in 2011, before falling to 57,399 in 2012, 52,313 in 2013 and 50,336 in 2014. The figure slightly rebounded to 54,214 last year.

Local universities have come under criticism for going too far in wooing Chinese students without rigorously evaluating their academic competence as well as Korean proficiency. This suggests that they have accepted a considerable number of students who are unqualified to study here. They have also taken advantage of the lack of restrictions on international student recruitment.

Against this backdrop, many Chinese students have difficulties adjusting to campus life in Korea. They complain that local universities have failed to look after their needs.

The government data showed 1,941 Chinese students had to drop out because of poor performance last year, accounting for 46 percent of all 3,617 foreign dropouts. In 2014, the number of Chinese dropouts was tallied at 2,361 against the total 4,095 foreign dropouts.

"A lot of Chinese students have grudges against Korean universities' irresponsible admissions policy," said a spokesman for a university in southern Seoul on condition of anonymity. "Some of them even come to harbor anti-Korean sentiment after studying at local universities."

He said the majority of Chinese students are not fluent in either English or Korean, which makes it hard for them to take academic courses.

"I had a conversation with one Chinese student who told me that he came to Korea with the expectation he would receive help from the university if he has difficulties with schoolwork," he said. "Local universities, however, actually cannot afford to provide sufficient caring services for international students."

"Frankly speaking, many Chinese students attending Korean universities lack Korean language skills necessary for their studies," said a 22-year-old Chinese student who asked not to be identified. He said he dropped out of a Chinese university and entered a freshman of a university in Korea this year.

Despite persistent problems with Chinese students, the Ministry of Education has set a goal of attracting 200,000 foreign students by 2020 to push for the globalization of local universities and sharpen their competitive edge.

"Although the education ministry has strongly encouraged universities to invite as many foreign students as possible by allowing us to recruit them with no limitations, not many universities are prepared to take care of them and provide quality education for them," said the university spokesman.

With tuition being frozen and the number of local students decreasing, most universities have been suffering financial difficulties in recent years.

In this situation, most universities consider Chinese students as their main source of income.

"Many universities have gone through hard times following the ministry's decision not to provide financial support for higher education institutions which refuse to press ahead with restructuring," said Kim Sam-ho, a researcher at the Korea Higher Education Research Institute.

"In addition to its push for restructuring, the ministry has prodded universities to attract more international students so that they can make up for the falling number of local students."

Some Korean students complained that the excessive portion of Chinese students serves as a stumbling block in diversifying the student body.

"I don't feel that our school has become globalized only because I can see more Chinese students on campus," said a 25-year-old university student who asked not to be named. "As some Chinese students in my department have a poor command of Korean, I've often had to help them understand lectures and participate in team projects."

Due to the language barrier and cultural differences, Chinese students are also hurt by Korean students.

"Korean students are reluctant to work with Chinese students because they think we Chinese students cannot do well in our given work," said Yang Weimin, a graduate student at Kyung Hee University.

A 20-year-old hotel management sophomore at Kyung Hee University also said, "I feel sore about my lack of fluency in Korean especially when I have to give a presentation during class and also sorry for Korean teammates."

Another Chinese student, Yi Wang, 21, who is studying at Sungkyunkwan University, spoke of her difficulties making friends with Korean students.

"Although I realize that Korean students are very busy starting in the freshman year due to cutthroat competition in the job market, it is really hard to mix with them," Yi said. "It is sad because I think making Korean friends and talking with them is the best way to improve my Korean language skills."

Some Chinese students pointed out that Korean universities have too loose selection standards to filter out unqualified students.

"Chinese students, including me, are able to enter prestigious Korean universities very easily, unlike Korean students who studied very hard to enter the same universities," a Chinese student studying at Sungkyunkwan University said.

"I think the education ministry should force universities to conduct a more thorough interview for international students applying to those schools," he added, saying that Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) scores cannot exactly demonstrate one's Korean language skills.

Korean universities are also under fire for a lack of programs for international students.

For example, Dongguk University offers only 24 lectures for foreign students, seven of which are taught in Chinese.

The education ministry has also invited criticism that it has not only failed to take action against local universities for their irresponsible recruitment of Chinese students, but also has been encouraging them to recruit more foreign students by easing regulations.

Last year, the ministry announced a plan to allow universities to launch foreign-only departments, especially for Chinese students, that can be run in foreign languages.

"I do not want to take a course that consists of only Chinese students and is even taught in Chinese language," said a Kyung Hee University junior who majors in hotel management. "It would be okay if the class is taught in easy Korean so that international students can better understand the subject."

Researcher Kim also expressed concerns about the plan, stressing that the education ministry should make efforts to solve the problems arising from the recruitment of international students.