Only 700 Americans are studying in China. Will the US lose a generation of experts?

When Sam Trizza got the news last April that he’d won a prestigious Boren Fellowship for Chinese-language study, he literally leaped for joy, throwing a fist in the air.

But as he read the congratulatory letter, he felt a wave of disappointment. The Boren Awards had decided not to fund study in his destination country: China. Going to China anyway would mean turning down a $30,000 fellowship.

“It was very frustrating,” he says.

Mr. Trizza’s dilemma is just one example of the hurdles confronting American youth who want to study in China.

The pandemic shut China’s doors and caused the number of U.S. university students here to plummet – from nearly 12,000 in 2019 to only 211 in 2022. U.S.-China tensions are keeping those numbers low, with only about 700 American students in mainland China today.

The collapse of the U.S. student population in China risks depriving the United States of its next cohort of China specialists, fluent in Mandarin Chinese, who can help navigate what is arguably the world’s most consequential political relationship, experts say. As the two countries engage in a wide-ranging competition, skillful management is critical to prevent conflict. 

“The U.S. really needs a new generation of China experts to understand China – whether friend or foe,” says Scott Kennedy, senior adviser and trustee chair in Chinese business and economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a think tank in Washington. 

Beijing and Washington agree it will serve their interests to rebuild the ranks of U.S. students here. Decades of U.S.-China student and scholarly exchanges have brought huge benefits to both countries, such as pathbreaking research in science and technology. But whether they can remove key obstacles remains uncertain, given the intense focus in both capitals on national security.

A major inhibiting factor, says Dr. Kennedy, is “concerns about China’s domestic political environment and how that might affect the student experience.”

Mr. Trizza felt those concerns. Safety considerations drove the decision by Boren administrators to deny funds for China study, he learned. Meanwhile, worried relatives quizzed him about his plans. 

Despite the pressure, he chose China. He gave up the fellowship and enrolled last September in a master’s program at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, part of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. 

“I came to China on my own because I knew it was important,” he says over coffee in a Beijing cafe during spring break. He pauses and turns sober. “And – I hate to say this – while Americans still can come to China.” 

Students face new hurdles

Zhao Gu Gammage, a junior at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, wanted to learn Chinese and see the country where she was born and lived until her adoption at the age of 11 months by an American couple. She, too, faced obstacles. 

Haverford required her to obtain special approval from a school board before she could even apply for China study – asking her to write a letter explaining her choice. 

“Colleges want to ... limit the liability as much as they can,” says Ms. Gammage. She’s the only member of her class of 400 to major in East Asian languages and cultures, and the first Haverford student in five years to study in China. “The last thing they want,” she says, “is a news headline saying something happened to their student in China.”

China’s government has tightened its grip domestically in recent years, using “exit bans” to stop some foreigners from leaving. It has heightened surveillance and political controls on university campuses, intensified internet censorship, and fortified the firewall that blocks Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other American social media. Ms. Gammage is excited to be living in Shanghai, but says she found the biometric scanning that is required to enter her university “very jarring.”

The U.S. State Department recommends that Americans “reconsider” travel to China due to the arbitrary enforcement of local laws, including in relation to exit bans, and the risk of wrongful detentions. The “Level 3” travel advisory – the second-highest warning level – is a “clear signal to general counsels at universities that they ought to reconsider their study-abroad programs in China,” Dr. Kennedy says.

Some U.S. universities have canceled their China study-abroad programs, redirecting students to Taiwan. For example, Dickinson College in Pennsylvania suspended its China program due to the Level 3 travel advisory. “If and when that advisory is changed, Dickinson will reevaluate,” spokesperson Craig Layne wrote in an email.

Still, there are signs of progress. 

Adam Webb, co-director of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, says applications to the center are up. “I do get questions about security and arbitrary detentions,” he says, but notes that “we have never had that happen to the HNC community in 40 years.”

Stanford University approved a new pilot initiative this spring to bring 20 undergraduates to the Stanford Center at Peking University, relaunching its China program for the first time since the pandemic. “We had twice as many applicants as we had slots,” says Jean Oi, SCPKU director and William Haas Professor of Chinese Politics at Stanford. “We really believe in the importance of getting faculty and students to China to better understand China.”

A recent CSIS report by U.S. and Chinese academics, focused on rebuilding scholarly ties, recommended that Beijing and Washington accelerate talks to address the China travel concerns and enable the U.S. to adjust its advisory. 

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said this month that changes to the travel advisory are “under active consideration,” acknowledging that it is “an inhibition” to academic exchanges. But, he added, “both sides are going to need to take steps. It’s not just the United States.”

“The best place for study abroad”

Over the past year, U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have stressed the need to expand people-to-people ties – including student exchanges – as part of their drive to steady U.S.-China relations. 

During his U.S. visit last November, Mr. Xi said China is ready to invite 50,000 American youth to China on exchange and study programs over the next five years. In January, China launched the Young Envoys Scholarship to fund the programs, with the first group of U.S. students, from Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington, arriving in China in March. 

This summer, 87 undergraduates from seven U.S. colleges and universities will receive the Young Envoys Scholarships, which cover tuition, lodging, and a stipend to study in China. “There is real intention coming from the Chinese government to welcome U.S. students and faculty,” says Terry Brown, vice president for academic innovation and transformation at the 350-member American Association of State Colleges and Universities. The association is collecting applications and matching U.S. faculty-led student groups with Chinese schools. 

“I want to have evidence of the success of the program to encourage more institutions and faculty to participate,” Ms. Brown says.

U.S. students interviewed in China were largely upbeat about their experience.

For Emre Ozmemili, study in China was a dream sparked by a high school community-service trip to a Chinese village in 2019. Now on a semester at Shanghai’s Donghua University, Mr. Ozmemili is soaking up the city, its unique culture, and the Chinese language. “I am in love with Shanghai,” he says. “It’s the best place for study abroad.”

He ticks off things he likes – the clean streets; efficient transportation; tasty, inexpensive food; and friendly people. “People are very kind,” he says. “There’s a great sense of community. I love when you go out to eat and there is a Lazy Susan with gongkuai – public chopsticks,” he says. “It stands in sharp contrast with the individualistic mindset of the U.S.”

Mr. Trizza and Ms. Gammage are also enthusiastic about their programs here – and both are looking ahead to China-related careers.

“It’s so interesting – culturally, politically. Every day I learn something new,” says Mr. Trizza. “I like hearing their perspectives and hearing things that rub me the wrong way – that is where I learn.”