I have previously written about Chinese student studying in the US and alluded to the  fact that certain US colleges are actively recruiting rich Chinese students for the  tuition fees they can pay. See

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·       The Chinese student population is so large that it forms aseparate world. Many Chinese speak only Mandarin, study only with otherChinese, attend only Chinese-organised events – and show off luxury cars inChinese-only auto clubs. The Chinese government and Christian groups may viefor their hearts and minds. But few others show much interest, and most Chinesestudents end up floating in a bubble disconnected from the very educationalrealms they had hoped to inhabit. “It takes a lot of courage to go out of yourcomfort zone,” Sophie says. “And a lot of students on both sides never eventry.”

·       Jonathan Hou, a 21-year-old Chinese student with a shock ofbleached-blond hair, is cruising through the campus in his newest toy: asparkling white $86,000 Mercedes Benz C63S. . . . He is more interested in the Chinese students who gather at thefood court of the Old Capitol Mall, locally known as the “Chinese ghetto”. Hesoaks in their admiring glances and scans the street for other high-end cars.His special-edition Merc is not the only fancy ride in town. A parade of Audis, BMWs and Mercedes, accompanied by a Maserati and a beigeBentley, streams past. All are driven by young Chinese students.  . . . . A lot has changed in a generation. When Tang, the political-science professor,  arrived for graduateschool in 1982, he had just $40 in his pocket. He washed dishes to pay for his tuition. American classmates with colour cameras seemed impossibly rich .“Today, the roles are completely reversed,” Tang says. “Now it’s the local American students  shaking their heads, looking at Chinese kids driving expensive cars that they  could never afford in their lifetimes.”   . . . .  “A lot of Chinese students can’t handle the  freedom in America,” he explains.“They just drink or play mahjong and stop going to class.”

·       Haddy’s TOEFL (English proficiency) score was too low for most universities– a 78. The Chinese agency that prepared her university applications pushed her towards Iowa: the university not only has a high acceptance rate, about 70% for international applicants, but each year it also takes around 150 “conditional admits” whose  marks fall below the minimum score of 80. These students must fulfil one or two years  of intensive English before joining the regular curriculum, earning the university  even more money.  When Haddy retook the TOEFL and scored 82, she gained full  admission.  . . . .  When she was initially shunted of finto temporary housing – bunk beds crammed into a building lobby – she texted a Chinese girl she had met on the  plane (business class, naturally) and moved in with her off-campus. Her friends are all Chinese.  Some nights, Haddy goes tobed and realises she hasn’t spoken a word of English all day.

·       Such a cloistered world invites temptations. Even as Haddy’s professors repeat  the mantra of academic integrity, her social-media account is barraged by online solicitations in Mandarin offering “hired guns” for academic papers and exams – all just a click away,  laid out in a language that university  administrators can’t comprehend. Haddy brushes off these invitations to cheat, but lines are sometimes crossed in the name of solidarity. SeveralChinese told me of a system by which wealthy Chinese students pay middle-class compatriots to write their papers.  A Chinese first-year student said she walked in on a roommate last fall getting help  on a test from another student. “You can’t do that!” she told them, to which her housemate replied:  “Yes, but she’s Chinese, I’m Chinese, we’re all Chinese. We have to help each other out.”. . .. One of the  students expelled during last year’s cheating scandal was one of Haddy’s former housemates. With just days left on her visa, she turned to acompany that helps Chinese students in trouble – an obscure but flourishingcorner of the education industry.  Almost overnight, according to Haddy, the company found a spot for the girl at nearby  Kirkwood Community College. Now,despite her expulsion, the student lives in the same  apartment, drives the same car, and hangs out with the same friends – almost as if nothing  happened at all.

·       And the future is uncertain. Chinese families still want to send their children abroad,  but a depreciating currency makes dollar tuition fees more expensive.  President Xi’s intensifying ideological campaign against Western influences in China  may stretch to foreign campuses. And now there is President Trump, his “America First”  agenda and his intermittent hostility toChina. Chinese students worry that any Sino-US conflict could threaten their freedom to study in America.After Trump’s immigration ban, Iowa staff cautioned foreign students to limitnon-essential travel abroad. Andy Tan, a mop-haired senior, told me he would probably cancel a planned trip over spring break to visit his girlfriend  inSouth Korea. “It’s safer to just stay in now,” he says.