Global Peer Pressure: An Annotated Bibliography

Topic: Foreign Influence on American Higher Education

Research Question: How has America’s global academic status produced foreign influence in its higher education?

Global Peer Pressure: An Annotated Bibliography

Johnson, Jenna. "U.S. Colleges Seek Foreign Students for Intellectual Stimulus, Bottom Line."

Washington Post. N.p., 02 Sept. 2011. Web. 3 Oct. 2013.

Johnson gives this article a personal touch when she relays her findings through the story of George Wu’s American college experience at the University of Virginia. She alludes to the correlation between college and the “American Dream” as she tells of the increasing foreign population in US colleges and universities. Johnson states that the leaders in the foreign population in the US higher education system are China, India and South Korea. She then explains that these students bring a significant income to the higher education facility of their choice and therefore the colleges often accommodate such students. This being said she goes on to explain the cultural benefits and varying perspectives these foreign students offer to the traditional American student.

Johnson offers not only the reasons for monetary significance but goes further than Stanley and Taylor go in that she introduces the variable of cultural value or benefit to the conversation. The article was a bit less structured and and more sporadic than other sources I found however the balance of new perspective made it a worthwhile addition to the collection. In this article, because of how much it focused on the Chinese student,  I would have liked to see the students perspective on his American peers and how they influenced him throughout his higher education.

Kurtz, Stanley. "Following the Foreign Money." National Review.

www.nationalreview.com, N.p., 26 Mar. 2008. Web. 30 Sept. 2013.

Stanley delves into a very relevant topic in this piece where he challenges his readers to investigate the motives and intentions of countries and individuals who give money to higher education facilities. He gives examples of monetary gifts from people such as a Saudi Arabian prince who presented a multimillion dollar gift to Harvard University. Even more startling is the fact that after 9/11 this same prince offered to donate millions of dollars to the Twin Towers fund in order to manipulate the views of Americans concerning the Middle East. He also outlines the ways the Middle Easterners are trying to reach out in higher education circles. His article begs the question: “What are acceptable gifts and which gifts should be refused?”. He makes a strong case for close analysis of all monetary gifts to higher education facilities as well as the honest discernment of the American people on this issue.

Stanley for the most part focused on the influence of the Middle East which was a perspective I had not thought of before. He asked difficult thought provoking questions and built up his case eloquently. Something I wish he would have added would be statistics about which colleges receive the bulk of these “gifts” and which countries give and how much monetary influence they have over American higher education. Stanley addresses the current laws which cover this issue minimally but certainly suggests that more attention needs to be paid to this issue and leaves that up to his readers.

Lewin, Tamar. "Taking More Seats on Campus, Foreigners Also Pay the Freight."

The New York Times. N.p., 4 Feb. 2012. Web. 7 Oct. 2013.

Lewin begins with some shocking numbers to represent the monetary influx that foreign students provide Washington State University. He then compares that to the percentage of instate students get almost a free ride as a result. Lewin takes an angle that would appeal to most Americans as he suggests that they embrace the increase in foreign students in the higher education realm. He continues on revealing how the colleges dependance on this foreign money mirrors American dependence on other prominent powers. from there he poses the question: How relaxed should professors be when grading the writing assignments submitted by foreign students, where does the special treatment end?

Lewin, similar to Johnson, encourages Americans to see the multiple benefits that these foreign students offer, and doing so made a strong case for accepting them into the higher education system graciously. She shows her readers how americans really are doing better monetarily because of this influx and makes a point that they are integrated enough into the system that without them American students would not be able to afford college. more information on the accommodations being made for these foreign students would be something helpful to know, as well as how far a college will go to keep its high dollar foreign students. Over all Lewin made a thought provoking, strong argument for the continuation of foreign influence in American higher education.

Simon, Stephanie. "Colleges Angle for Influential Foreign Students like Bo Guagua."

Chicago Tribune. N.p., 17 Apr. 2012. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.

Simon reports the story of Bo Guagua who was the child of two wealthy and influential chinese socialites and was to be admitted into Harvard University despite getting kicked out of Oxford University for bad grades. She hones in for most of her article on how in foreign countries the name is what is important. Simon has discovered after speaking with a dean from Vanderbilt University that prestigious colleges get calls all the time from foreign politicians and celebrities all the time to reserve a spot at the school for their child. She conveyed in her writing how amusing it was to the American college administrators to witness such behavior on and on. Bo was denied access to Harvard after a scandal came out in China concerning his parents who lost their money in the process. She uses all of this to say, that colleges are on the look out for foreign students to potentially be admitted into their institutions but it isn’t all about the money.

Stephanie Simon makes valid claims about the need for the foreign enrollment in US higher education institutions, which are in agreement with my other sources. She however differs as she illustrates how colleges do desire these foreign students, but these great American schools have not lost their standards when choosing the students they will accept. Something I would have likes to hear more about would be the internal pressures that are put on the leaders of the colleges  to obtain the high dollar tuition from foreign students.

Taylor, Adam. "China Has an Incredible Influence on US Higher Education.”    

www.businessinsider.com. N.p., 13 June 2013. Web. 30 Sept. 2013.

Taylor’s brief article is an informative piece which gives insight into the story of Chen Guangcheng, a Chinese activist. The gist of the story is that Chen left China where he was persecuted, to study at the University of New York. NYU was one of the only colleges that would accept him because of their fear of the Communist Party of China, and because of their acceptance of Chen the CPC significantly pressured the college. As a result, NYU revoked Chen’s status as a student, but was still allowed to remain in the US. He strives to learn all that he can to make the world aware of the current human rights issues in China. Negotiations have been going on as to where Chen may next be accepted into a place of US higher education. This piece also sheds light on China’s efforts to sprinkle “China focused” educational establishments around the US. Taylor certainly brings up valid points of interest regarding chinese influence in the US higher education system.

This article did a good job of bringing awareness to the Chinese influence in institutions of education and of how China projects its academic influence throughout the US.  Something  this text still leaves me wondering about would be the way that China pressured NYU and what exactly did they say to make the college change their mind about Chen. Taylor also references a separate interview the Business Insider had with Chen a few months before where he confirmed his knowledge of  the pressures the college was receiving and his observations of NYU’s reaction to them. Part way through the article Taylor also includes some interesting statistics about foreign  integration into higher education, stating that one-fourth of all higher education students study in the US.