BEIJING — After getting a glimpse of the endless cramming for China’s grueling college entrance exams from the seniors in his high school, 16-year-old Zhang Kaisheng decided to take a different path.
Like a growing number of Chinese teenagers, Zhang plans to enroll this fall in a private U.S. high school where he and his parents hope he will get a more well-rounded — if far more expensive — education. Tuition, room and board can cost around $40,000 — three to four times more than an elite private school in China.
“I feel like the U.S. education fits me better and will allow me to do things I like to do,” said Zhang, who loves playing basketball.
With more than 333,000 of its students in U.S. colleges and graduate schools, China has long been the top feeder of international students in America. Now Chinese high school students are following suit in astonishing fashion: Last year U.S. schools welcomed 50 times more of them than they did just eight years earlier.