Jennifer Wheary, seen here, is a senior fellow at Demos, a public policy organization in New York City.
She writes that 30 years ago, 30% of the world’s college students were from the United States. Today, that figure is just 14%.
She writes, ‘We produce 70,000 engineers a year. Official records say that China produces 650,000. American experts don’t necessarily believe that, but even their revised figure, 350,000, shows a huge difference.’
The Centre for International Governance Innovation, a global think tank based in Canada, says that China will have more engineers and scientists with doctorates than the United States by 2010. They also estimate that within four years, 90% of all scientists and engineers with doctorates in the world will be Asians living in Asia.
She writes that ‘in recent years, China has revamped its higher education strategy to focus on getting more people from poor families into college and graduate school.
‘The Chinese government has prioritized keeping university fees and housing costs low. It also encourages master’s and doctorate programs to drop the fees associated with postgraduate study.
‘In concentrating on cutting college costs, Chinese authorities recognize that low-income and working-class communities are the source of the nation’s future human capital. Making college more affordable means accessing untapped potential. The Chinese get it. We don’t.’
Interesting to read an American viewpoint about higher education which basically says that China is getting it right, the United States is getting it wrong. Read the full article by clicking HERE.
Source: Newsday
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