Student Union
- By Janssie Zhu
Some Chinese Students Shun the 'Rich' Title
When some college students look at their more than 363, 341 Chinese classmates on American campuses, they think they see internationals who don't have to worry about money.
Viral stories showing international students from China driving high-end cars and waving off concerns about tuition add to the stereotype.
But many Chinese students — who comprise one-third of the more than 1 million international students in the U.S. — say their families saved for years to support an education at expensive American colleges and universities.
"I prepare the tuition and fees by scrimping and saving," said Yeming Zhang, a Chinese parent who spends about $90,000 a year to send her daughter to Boston University in Massachusetts. She said she sold construction industry equipment for 10 years to save for her daughter's schooling.
To lessen the burden on her family, Linda Zhou said she worked 15 hours a week as a receptionist in the English language center and international student center. (Visa restrictions limit where and how much international students can work.)
Many other Chinese students also work to earn money for expenses like food and clothing. Xuemeng Zhao at Hampshire College in Massachusetts works four jobs and sleeps only six hours a day, he said. Vivi Zou from University of California-Davis works as barista for eight hours a week.
About 65 percent of the more than one million international students in the U.S. pay tuition and fees out of pocket, meaning from parents, personal business, or scholarships from their home governments. Among undergraduates, more than 80 percent pay their school costs from personal or family sources, according to the Institute for International Education (IIE) in Washington.
Many are from middle-class or upper middle-class families paying tuition that can range from about $27,000 to more than $70,000 per year for non-Americans. When they apply for student visas, they must show proof that they can afford their annual expenses, not just the airplane ticket to the U.S.
"International students with F-1, F-2, J-1, J-2, and G-series [diplomatic] visas are required to show proof of enough resources to meet their expenses while attending University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and federal regulations limit financial assistance," explained Rick Fitzgerald, spokesperson for the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Despite the price, many Chinese families prepared for their children's college educations for years and consider their children worthy of a good education.
"I think attending U.S. college provides my son a more extensive platform to expand his horizons and social circles," said Mingjun Chao, whose child attends the University of Southern California. "We paid the bill from our savings."
Likewise, said Yeming Zhang, "I sent my kid to U.S. colleges to get exposed to diverse culture, and to adjust to the diverse society."
WATCH: International Students in America
But when Chinese students arrive in the U.S., they learn they are paying much more than most domestic students, and some question the disparity.
"It's understandable for domestic students to have lower tuition than international students," said Tianze Liu, a Chinese student at the University of California-Irvine. "They deserve the public service of their own country.
"However, sometimes our tuition is 10 times more than theirs."
Dan Mann, associate provost for enrollment management from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, explained that "rates are often higher for international students because they do not pay federal or state taxes that help to fund the university operations and research enterprise."
For example, a student from Massachusetts will pay in-state tuition at the University of Massachusetts, but out-of-state rates to a public university in California, like an international student. At the University of California system in 2016-2017, tuition and fees for in-state residents was $15,397, and $43,411 for out-state residents.
And over the past 30 years, costs increased 213 percent at U.S. public institutions and 130 percent at private U.S. institutions, said Rajika Bhandari, research and strategy senior adviser at IIE. This continued climb in tuition and fees is intersecting with a decrease in public funding for colleges and universities.
State funding for public two- and four-year colleges last year was nearly $9 billion below its 2008 level, reports the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research and policy institute in Washington, on its website.
"A decade since the Great Recession hit, state spending on public colleges and universities remains well below historic levels, despite recent increases," the CBPP wrote.
International students contributed $42 billion to the U.S. economy in 2017-2018, according to the Institute for International Education, in the sectors of higher education, accommodations, dining, retail, telecommunications, transportation and health insurance. And they help support more than 455,000 jobs in the U.S., which means every seven international students create three jobs in the U.S.
Sandy Baum, an expert on higher-education finance at the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization, said Chinese students "are not paying more than the full sticker price."
"And they are not paying more than the education is worth to them. At most private colleges, all students are being subsidized — including the Chinese students. It's just that the full-pay students are getting smaller subsidies than those on financial aid."
A few Chinese students reported receiving financial aid from U.S. colleges. Alex Kong, a rising senior from University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism, said he received $7,600 over three years, including scholarships and financial aid.
"It's very encouraging to me. It pushes to me devote more time into my academics," he said. "I applied for financial aid and scholarship to relieve my family's burden. It is also the first step for me to be financially independent."
Kong searched Google to learn how to get aid from his college and followed the steps to complete forms. However, "many of my friends don't seem to know about the aid and the scholarship. If you yourself don't ask about it, nobody will tell you," Kong said.
Chinese students say they feel compelled to earn the tuition back through well-paying jobs after graduation.
"I would be happier and feel less pressure if it is not my parents paying for my full tuition. I feel guilty to make them do so," said Linda Zhou, a Chinese senior at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. "The tuition is like my parents' investment in me, and I have to make it reward and paid back. I will be disappointed in myself if I fail to do so. It's important."
Zhou said she prioritized college rankings over financial aid when she decided on colleges.
"I didn't know enough about financial aid and scholarship when I applied for U.S. colleges. But if I could choose again, I would apply for financial aid and scholarship, and attend the one who gives me money even though it might be ranked lower," she said.
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International students may be able to get jobs at school
International students studying in the United States may be able to work on campus.
Jobs can include working in libraries, labs, food service and dormitories – but students will have to research the rules before applying for jobs, according to U.S. News & World Report. (September 2024)
Report says college rankings have the potential to mislead
Each year, prominent lists of college and university rankings are compiled and released to the public, but a report conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago says those rankings have the potential to mislead.
Writing in Forbes, Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier says changing methodologies can distort results, and profit motives can create doubt. He argues that rankings should be replaced by an objective rating system. (September 2024)
College athletes push for voter turnout while largely avoiding controversy as election nears
Lily Meskers faced an unexpected choice in the lead-up to the first major election she can vote in.
The 19-year-old University of Montana sprinter was among college athletes in the state who received an inquiry from Montana Together asking if she was interested in a name, image and likeness deal to support Sen. Jon Tester, a three-term Democrat seeking re-election. The group, which is not affiliated with the Tester campaign, offered from $400 to $2,400 to athletes willing to produce video endorsements.
Meskers, who is from Colorado but registered to vote in Montana, decided against the deal because she disagrees with Tester's votes on legislation involving transgender athletes in sports.
"I was like, OK, I believe that this is a political move to try to gain back some voters that he might have lost," Meskers said. "And me being a female student-athlete myself, I was not going to give my endorsement to someone who I felt didn't have the same support for me."
Professional athletes such as LeBron James, Colin Kaepernick and Stephen Curry have taken high-profile stances on hot-button topics and political campaigns in recent years, but college athletes are far less outspoken — even if money is available, according to experts in the NIL field. Being outwardly political can reflect on their school or endanger potential endorsement deals from brands that don't want controversy. It can certainly establish a public image for an athlete — for better or for worse — or lead to tensions with teammates and coaches who might not feel the same way.
There are examples of political activism by college athletes: A Texas Tech kicker revealed his support for former President Donald Trump on a shirt under his uniform at a game last week and a handful of Nebraska athletes a few days ago teamed up in a campaign ad against an abortion measure on the Tuesday's ballot.
Still, such steps are considered rare.
"It can be viewed as risky and there may be people telling them just don't even take that chance because they haven't made it yet," said Lauren Walsh, who started a sports branding agency 15 years ago. She said there is often too much to lose for themselves, their handlers and in some cases, their families.
"And these individuals still have to figure out what they're going to do with the rest of their lives, even those that do end up getting drafted," she added.
College coaches are not always as reticent. Auburn men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl has used social media to make it clear he does not support Kamala Harris, Trump's Democratic opponent in next week's presidential election. Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy once caused a stir with a star player for wearing a shirt promoting a far-right news outlet.
Blake Lawrence, co-founder of the NIL platform Opendorse, noted that this is the first presidential election in the NIL era, which began in July 2021. He said athletes are flocking to opportunities to help increase voter turnout in the 18-to-24 age demographic, adding that one of his company's partners has had 86 athletes post social media messages encouraging turnout through the first half of the week.
He said athletes are shying away from endorsing specific candidates or causes that are considered partisan.
"Student-athletes are, for the most part, still developing their confidence in endorsing any type of product or service," he said. "So if they are hesitant to put their weight behind supporting a local restaurant or an e-commerce product, then they are certainly going to be hesitant to use their social channels in a political way."
Giving athletes a voice
Many college athletes have opted to focus on drumming up turnout in a non-partisan manner or simply using their platforms to take stands that are not directly political in nature. Some of those efforts can be found in battleground states.
A progressive group called NextGen America said it had signed players in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Virginia to encourage voting among young people. Another organization, The Team, said it prepped 27 college athletes in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona and Michigan to lead volunteer voter participation opportunities for students. The organization also said it got more than 625 coaches to sign a nonpartisan pledge to get their athletes registered to vote.
The Team's executive director is Joe Kennedy, a former coach who coordinated championship visits and other sporting events at the White House during President Barack Obama's administration. In early October, it hosted a Zoom event during which panelists such as NCAA President Charlie Baker and WNBA players Nneka Ogwumike and Natasha Cloud gave college athletes advice about using their platforms on campus.
In its early days, The Team seized upon momentum from the record turnout seen in the 2020 election. The NCAA that year said Division I athletes could have Election Day off from practice and play to vote. Lisa Kay Solomon, founder of the All Vote No Play campaign, said even if the athletes don't immediately take stands on controversial issues, it's important for them to learn how.
"It is a lot to ask our young people to feel capable and confident on skills they've never had a chance to practice," Solomon said. "We have to model what it means to practice taking risks, practice standing up for yourself, practice pausing to think about what are the values that you care about — not what social media is feeding into your brain, but what do you care about and how do you express that? And how do you do it in a way that honors the kind of future that you want to be a part of?"
Shut up and play?
Two years ago, Tennessee-Martin quarterback Dresser Winn said he would support a candidate in a local district attorney general race in what experts said was very likely the first political NIL deal by a college athlete.
There have been very few since.
The public criticism and fallout for athletes who speak out on politics or social issue can be sharp. Kaepernick, the Super Bowl-winning quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, hasn't played in an NFL game since January 2017, not long after he began kneeling during the national anthem at games.
Meskers, the Montana sprinter, said political endorsements through NIL deals could create problems for athletes and their schools.
"I just think that NIL is going to run into a lot of trouble and a lot of struggles if they continue to let athletes do political endorsements," she said. "I just think it's messy. But I stand by NIL as a whole. I think it's really hard as a student athlete to create a financial income and support yourself."
Walsh said it's easier for wealthy and veteran stars like James and Ogwumike to take stands. James, the Los Angeles Lakers star, started More Than a Vote — an organization with a mission to "educate, energize and protect Black voters" — in 2020. He has passed the leadership to Ogwumike, who just finished her 13th year in the WNBA and also is the president of the Women's National Basketball Players Association. More than a Vote is focused on women's rights and reproductive freedom this year.
"They have very established brands," Walsh said. "They know who they are and they know what their political stance is. They know that they have a really strong following that -- there's always going to be haters, but they're also always going to have that strong following of people who listen to everything that they have to say."
Andra Gillespie, an associate professor at Emory University who teaches African American politics, also said it is rare that a college athlete would make a significant impact with a political stand simply because they tend to have a more regional platform than national. Even celebrities like Taylor Swift and Eminem are better at increasing turnout than championing candidates.
"They are certainly very beneficial in helping to drive up turnout among their fans," Gillespie said. "The data is less conclusive about whether or not they're persuasive – are they the ones who are going to persuade you to vote for a particular candidate?"
Athletes as influencers
Still, campaigns know young voters are critical this election cycle, and athletes offer an effective and familiar voice to reach them.
Political and social topics are not often broached, but this week six Nebraska athletes — five softball players and a volleyball player — appeared in an ad paid for by the group Protect Women and Children involving two initiatives about abortion laws on Tuesday's ballot.
The female athletes backed Initiative 434, which would amend the state constitution to prohibit abortions after the first trimester, with exceptions. Star softball player Jordy Bahl said on social media that the athletes were not paid.
A University of Montana spokesperson said two athletes initially agreed to take part in the NIL deal backing Tester. The school said one withdrew and the other declined to be interviewed.
For Meskers, deciding against the offer boiled down to Tester twice voting against proposals to bar federal funds from going to schools that allow transgender athletes to play women's sports, a prominent GOP campaign topic. Tester's campaign said the proposals were amendments to government spending packages, and he didn't want to play a role in derailing them as government shutdowns loomed.
"As a former public school teacher and school board member, Jon Tester believes these decisions should be made at the local level," a Tester spokesperson said. "He has never voted to allow men to compete against women."
Meskers said she believes using influence as college athletes is good and she is in favor of NIL. She just doesn't think the two should mix specifically for supporting candidates.
"I think especially as student athletes, we do have such a big voice and we do have a platform to use," she said. "So I think if you're encouraging people to do their civic duties and get up and go (vote), I think that's a great thing."
- By VOA News
Bloomberg Philanthropies says investment in low-income students fell short
More than $140 million from billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s charitable programs have been spent getting talented low-income students into top colleges, but an analysis of those programs found they fell short of goals.
The Wall Street Journal took a look at the programs, their objectives, and how they haven’t led to the results Bloomberg Philanthropies wanted to see. (September 2024)
- By VOA News
Music students find community through 'international chat' program
State University of New York at Fredonia is trying a new method to help international music students feel at home.
A professor at the school hosts informal chats -- known as "international chat" -- several times a semester. The goal, the school says in an article, is to function "as a study group session for international students facing challenges that are unique to international students."
Read the full story here. (October 2024)
