Chinese Students in America Policies, Issues, and Numbers (1988) / Chapter Skim
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4. Understanding the Statistics: Problems and Issues
4. Understanding the Statistics: Problems and Issues
Pages 77-86
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From page 77... ...
Surely either the United States with its advanced computers or China with her presumed controls over people should have the answer. It is just this incredulity that prompts the inclusion in the body of this report, rather than in an appendix, a detailed discussion of the problems and issues associated with statistics on Chinese students in the United States.
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From page 78... ...
statistics in one calculation is somewhat risky, since the Chinese rarely publish any breakdown of students and scholars by country of study, even an approximate distribution between the United States and the other Surplus countries is of special interest. Although the results seem to contradict Chinese reports that two-thirds of all students and scholars iSee, for example, Leo A
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From page 79... ...
If scholars and privately supported students were included, the proportion in the United States would undoubtedly come closer to two-thirds of the total numbers sent abroad. As for figures in Table 12, in the early postnormaTization years, the majority of Chinese students were indeed sent to Europe and Japan, but in just three years the balance shifted, so that by 1983 most were coming to the United States.
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From page 80... ...
One reason for this is that it is much easier to obtain a visa for Canada and some of the European countries, where stricter immigration policies and stringent enforcement also make their return much more certain than if they came to the United States. Until recently, Chinese diplomatic officials in the United States readily admitted that they did not have an accurate count of the numbers of scholars and students in this country, and such a number rarely appeared in Chinese sources.2 ~ 1986, however, with the help of a newly acquired computer, the Chinese Embassy in Washington began inputting data on all students and scholars with J-1 visas in the United States, their locations, their majors, and probably 2 When released, the number was likely to be picked up by numerous publications.
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From page 81... ...
And, of course, Chinese figures on the number of returnees must be even more problematic. Moreover, since there is no attempt to keep track of the privately funded students, a formula for determining the total number of Chinese scholars and students in the United States remains unattainable.
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From page 82... ...
Let us consider some of the specific reasons. Anyone who consults the statistical yearbooks, published annually by the INS, is immediately taken aback by the figures in the table entitled "Nonimmigrants Admitted by Country of Citizenship." The 1985 INS yearbook reports a total of 202,447 nonimmigrants admitted to the United States from China.
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From page 83... ...
However, to anyone familiar with the flow of Chinese students and scholars to the United States it would be immediately evident that these figures were grossly inflated, especially for the F-i category. Although some part of the excess could be the double-counting of multiple entries, in the case of students and scholars from China multiple trips between the two countries are relatively infrequent.
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From page 84... ...
What this means, of course, is that even if specifically tasked, the INS could not readily produce internally reliable data from which a figure for the number of Chinese currently in the United States could be derived. And, of course, the grapevine works; it does not take long for arriving foreign students to Recover the impotence of American immigration laws.
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From page 85... ...
All visa applications contain considerable detail about the intended program of study in the United States, as well as personal characteristics of the applicants. One reason for so much detail ~ to prove to the consular officer that the applicant has sufficient ties to China (professional and/or family)
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From page 86... ...
~6 CHINESE STUDENTS IN AMERICA As shown in the next chapter, the statistics on those entering new programs and those extending their stay is of considerable value in estunating the net number of students and scholars in this country. Since F-1 students are privately sponsored, they do not have to fill out Form lAP-66, although they must present an affidavit of financial support to assure the authorities that they will not become public charges or be forced to work.
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