<p>"China is making a $250 billion-a-year investment in what economists call human capital. ...the Chinese government is using large subsidies to educate tens of millions of young people as they move from farms to cities."</p>
<p>If they pull this off, how will it affect the universities that are depending on full pay internationals to balance their books? Even more interesting is if they can do what they've done in manufacturing to education and start siphoning off students to go there... (like the US consumer who voted for the poorer quality $50 made-in-China bicycle, if he votes for the made in China degree at a fraction of the price or for US education brands located in China)</p>
<p>We have a scenario going on at work at the moment where, supposedly, there are all these MBAs in China and not enough white collar Chinese jobs for them, so they are working remotely from China doing entry level data entry type jobs for us. If that’s true, which sounds logical in theory but I have no idea, I would be surprised if the Chinese degrees really translate over in a way that would threaten US universities. US jobs perhaps.</p>
<p>“A Chinese graduate from a second-tier university is not the equal of an American in [American, I presume he means] language skills and cultural familiarity"</p>
<p>And an American graduate from a second-tier university IS the equal of a Chinese in Chinese language skills and cultural familiarity? (I won’t even ask if said American graduate has adequate AMERICAN language skills and cultural familiarity …)</p>
<p>I wonder how much knowledge and money that American investors have poured into China to train Chinese people to build the current manufacturing and economic infrastructure of China? We should compare this cost and the cost that China uses in its education system.</p>
<p>International correspondent Richard Engel sort of touched on this point when he noted that the majority of the new billionaires in the world will come from China.</p>
<p>China has big plans, educationally. A few years ago they sent a team of specialists touring the US for months, visiting all kinds of schools - from the Ivies, MIT and Caltech, to state universities and community colleges. The idea is to take the very best of the US university SYSTEM (from the elite schools to jcs) and adapt it at home. </p>
<p>By the time our grandchildren are looking for schools for their kids – the list of the world’s best universities may have fewer American universities, and quite a few more Chinese ones.</p>