Understanding Experiences of Chinese Graduate Students in the United States

Graduate students from China have an unusually large role in U.S. international relations. The hundreds of thousands of Chinese who study in the United States form a backbone of “personal diplomacy” between the two countries. Economically, they constitute a large share of new talent entering American companies and research institutions, and they have propelled growth in U.S. higher education. Geopolitically, they are eyed with suspicion in the United States and China—subject to increasingly strict visa reviews by U.S. authorities and longer, more arduous security screenings for jobs in China. In recent years, largely due to COVID-19, the number of Chinese students in the United States has declined, from over 370,000 in 2019 to around 290,000 in 2023.

How do Chinese graduate students in the United States—especially in STEM fields—react to the growing attention on them from both sides of the Pacific? What can be done to persuade many of them to stay in the United States or ensure better conditions for their studies and research? We asked students themselves. Over several years, we conducted several hundred hours of interviews with nearly fifty Chinese graduate students at universities across the United States, studying at a mix of large and small, public, private, and religiously affiliated institutions. We discuss some of what students told us in a paper newly published with Harvard Kennedy School.

What are the main challenges facing Chinese graduate students in the United States, in these students’ eyes? The clear, predominant concern that most students had was over their visas. Many students face increasingly time-consuming and seemingly unpredictable application processes for obtaining a U.S. visa. Even students in five or six-year programs must renew visas annually, creating uncertainty over whether they can successfully finish their programs or whether they can leave the United States for trips abroad, such as to attend academic conferences or visit relatives. Several students told us that they or their friends had foregone applying for tourist visas in earlier years, out of fear that a rejected tourist visa application would make it even harder to apply for a student visa.

After visas, students expressed concerns about campus safety, about culturally ‘fitting in’ to American institutions, and about navigating conversations on either American or Chinese domestic politics. A focus in U.S. media and academia has been the FBI’s “China Initiative” and its successor approaches. Chinese students generally did not express much concern to us about the China Initiative or similar federal programs, and tended to think the China Initiative would not affect themselves even while the initiative was ongoing. They did, however, express frustration or disappointment regarding what they saw as growing restrictions on P.R.C. citizen researchers in the United States—for research funding, internships, or fellowships.

U.S. universities have little authority to change some of these circumstances, but there are many other ways universities could improve conditions for their international students. We found that a surprisingly large number of Chinese STEM graduate students, even at the most elite American institutions, do not know how to use their universities’ healthcare systems or health insurance, and assume that going to a hospital is their only option for basic health needs. Many students get little support for improving their English language abilities, and are mostly at a loss if faced with abuses by a professor or university administrator.

Even during the worst moments of COVID-19 in the United States, we found that an overwhelming majority of younger Chinese scientists studying in the United States wanted to stay in the United States at least for their first job after graduating. Yet, many U.S. universities provide these students with meager preparation to effectively work and live in the United States, while new restrictions on funding or visas make it harder for them to improve their skills. If U.S. policymakers and universities want to continue attracting and enrolling large numbers of Chinese graduate students—and want to ensure that many of the most talented among them stay in the United States—addressing the core concerns and challenges that these students identified would be a good first step.

China’s weak post-COVID economic recovery and the United States’s strong job market have enhanced incentives for Chinese students to stay in the United States. American policymakers could revise visa rules to ease students’ worries that they may not be able to attend conferences or see their families for a long time, and universities can work harder to ensure international students are prepared for life in the United States regardless of where students choose to stay.

Richard Yarrow is a Research Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center, Harvard Kennedy School. Victoria Li was a Research Assistant at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University. Their study, “Chinese Graduate Students' Experience of U.S. Higher Education Through Covid and U.S.-China Tensions,” was recently published by the Mossavar-Rahmani Center at Harvard Kennedy School.