> It's like there are two sets of standards now. One for Chinese students, and one for everyone else.
At least in the UK, University of St Andrews, which has the highest percentage of international students in the country, offers a Foundation Year[1] to the applicants from the third-world countries, which must be taken before the 4-year undergraduate degree.
It reduces the knowledge gap, improves the language skills, and brings additional income to the university without affecting the quality and experience of the degree programs.
The cynic in me would think this is nothing more than an opportunity to make more money while guaranteeing that after the foundation year anyone can get into university.
The alternative would be to admit underprepared students without offering any kind of support and take their tuition money until they fail out. That's no better.
Or, and you may be shocked by this, another alternative would be to make them take an IELTS exam, set the minimum score high and deny them entry if they don’t pass.
There are no such guarantees – as far as I am aware – and as a former student I remember having a single Chinese classmate in my 4-year Computer Science degree program. After the Foundation Year, students of all nationalities were treated equally, and there were much more 1st year students from the US and the EU than from China.
Also had colleagues from Vietnam and China who attended the foundation year. It was clear to me they couldn’t read/write English to a high school level. They still got in
It might depend on how competitive the general admission process in a particular university is. I wouldn't be surprised, if 70% of the Britain's 100+ universities accepted all Chinese applicants. In the case of University St Andrews, it has plenty of more qualified applicants from North America who pay the same as Chinese and, therefore, can afford not to accept them.
Yeah, and Australian Universities require international students to have an IELTS[1] score of at least 6.5, and yet most can barely speak English. Its all bullshit to extract money from China at the expense of watering down the value of the education for everyone.
Universities in Australia have someone similar too. My wife went through a similar program nearly 20 years ago, and was from a country which speaks English.
The problem with some international students is the degree is a means to an end. It's a thing to have for what it allows (work, immigration, prestige). They have no qualms cheating if they know there is no repercussion, English literacy is irrelevant.
At least in the UK, University of St Andrews, which has the highest percentage of international students in the country, offers a Foundation Year[1] to the applicants from the third-world countries, which must be taken before the 4-year undergraduate degree.
It reduces the knowledge gap, improves the language skills, and brings additional income to the university without affecting the quality and experience of the degree programs.
[1] https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/subjects/study-options/foundati...