Wang Yuanyuan

    With the sharp increase in Chinese students studying at American schools, a growing number of substandard high schools or special-needs high schools are now opening to Chinese students with the help of agencies to increase their revenue.

    “Many of these teenagers went to the schools after listening to their agencies’ recommendations. Studying at these schools is not helpful to their development and may harm their mental health, too,” said Liu Yumin, a manager at EIC Education Group.

    Wang Guan is one of the students who were cheated by the agencies.

    “My parents paid US$4,700 to Weishi Education Agency in 2009, hoping the agency would help me get into a good boarding school in the United States,” Wang said.

    The agency suggested she go to Marvelwood School in the United States where the tuition fees were US$52,000 a year. “The agency assured me the school had a very high reputation and academic environment. They also told me there were only 20 Chinese students among the 155 boarding students. We did not know much about schools in the United States, so we listened to their suggestions,” said Wang.

    However, when Wang entered the school, she found most of her classmates behaving strangely and some of them frequently forgot to bring their textbooks to class.

    According to a local newspaper, more than half of the students had learning disabilities and their average scores for SAT were much lower than the average scores in the United States. In 2010, about 40 boarding students came from China.

    Liu said the number of Chinese students in American high schools has increased by more than 100 times over the past five years, which was the highest among all foreign countries.

    Due to the economic recession in the country, many high schools, particularly private schools with low donations and loose enrollment policies, tried various ways of attracting Chinese students as a way of making money. “Many private high schools have problems enrolling local students due to the recession, so China is their new hope for maintaining daily operation,” said Liu.

    However, many agencies refuse to offer other services after sending the student abroad. “I called the agency several times, complaining about the school and hoping they would help me transfer to another one, but the agency never returned my call. It is just a one-time deal and hard for us to get what is owed to us,” said Wang.