Poor Chinese Students and Poor American Students: Different Destinies

Published in Huanqiu
(China) on 10 July 2009
by 朱四倍 (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Guangyong Liang. Edited by Robin Silberman.
It’s that time of year when colleges are recruiting. The number of students who remain anxious about their future even after they receive letters of admission is unknown; from where are they going to get money to pay for tuition? Although there are many ways to get financial aid, not every student has access to them.

The situation is quite different for America's Princeton University, which includes the following in its recruitment brochure: Princeton’s “non-loan economic aid project” will provide generous “in need grant” for all eligible applicants. Take Princeton’s 2008 undergraduate class for example: not only should poor students have “no worries for study and accommodation,” but even families that have an income of 200,000 dollars or more can apply to reduce the tuition by 47 percent. Since 2001, zero debt for all graduates from Princeton has become possible.

Compared to that, Chinese college students, especially poor students, are not that fortunate and some students have to carry a heavy burden of debt before they graduate.

This is a huge contrast. Why does the U.S. let poor students go to college without paying tuition? The reason it gives is that colleges - especially the best colleges - should not be seen only as clubs for rich people; no doubt this would make the country lose face. This kind of reasoning is not a surprise for us. But unfortunately in China, tuition has been increasing. China has shown no affection for its poor students. We have statistics as evidence from research sponsored by world banks and the Chinese Education Ministry. One example is a ratio showing a gradual decline in the number of students from farming families when the popularity of a college increases.

The pursuit of fairness in education opportunities is one of the unshakable principles of modern countries. This is essentially why poor students can afford college: so the U.S. government and colleges avoid any implied shortcomings. As for China, the average increase in tuition stayed at around 25 percent from 1996 to 2000. From 1998 to 1999 the tuition increase reached 44 percent. In the meantime, the increase in the rate of residents’ income levels was far below the tuition percentage increase. This caused the tuition, calculated according to a comparable price, to account for a substantial proportion of average resident income. Until 2002, the percent tuition made up of rural residents’ average income had increased from 68.6 percent to 177.6 percent. This percentage is far beyond the level of burden resulting from higher education costs in developed countries like the U.S. and Japan.

When can Chinese colleges preserve their dignity and let their poor students enjoy tuition-free treatment?


又到一年高校招生时,不知道有多少学生拿到入学通知书时会对未来充满焦虑:高额学费从哪里来?虽说有不少的助学途径,但那毕竟很难惠及每一个穷学生。
美国的普林斯顿大学就不一样,它的招生宣传册上印着一句话:普林斯顿的“非贷款经济援助项目”向所有具备资格的申请者提供慷慨的“需求助学金”。以 该校2008级本科生为例,穷学生不仅“学食宿无忧”,即便年收入超过20万美元的家庭,也可申请减免47%的学费。自2001年来,该校毕业生零负债已 成为可能。相比之下,我国大学生特别是穷学生可能就没有那么幸运了,一些人没毕业就会背上沉重的债务包袱。

  这是一种巨大的反差。美国何以要让穷学生不交费上大学呢?它们给出的原因是,大学,尤其是最好的大学,如果只是富人子弟的俱乐部,无疑让这个国家颜面 无存。这种想法对我们来说并不陌生,遗憾的是在我国,高校学费是一涨再涨,不知不觉中遗忘了对穷孩子的关怀。有数字为证,一项由世界银行和中国教育部资助 的调查发现,随着院校层次的升高,农民子女的比例逐渐降低。

  追求教育机会的公平是现代国家不可动摇的原则之一。这也正是美国政府和高校把穷人上不起学当成“颜面无存”的本质原因所在。就我国而言,1996到 2000年间高等教育学费的年均增长率保持在25%左右,1998到1999年的学费增长率则是高达44%。同期居民收入水平的增长速度则远低于这一水 平,这导致根据可比价格计算的学费占居民人均收入的比例也大幅度提高,到2002年,学费占农村居民人均纯收入水平的比例由1996年的68.6%飙升到 177.6%。这一比例远远超过美国、日本等发达国家居民的高等教育负担水平。

  中国的大学何时能像爱护自己的颜面一样,让更多穷学生享受免费的待遇呢?
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