First 13 students from China pact to arrive at UA

FAYETTEVILLE — A program once anticipated to draw as many as 100 Chinese undergraduate students yearly to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville will have 13 students on campus in August, a UA faculty member said.

The logistics management program offered with Soochow University has the potential to grow after the first group arrives in Fayetteville for the students’ final year of study towards a bachelor’s degree, said John Kent, director of the university’s Supply Chain Management Research Center.

Chinese students already make up the single largest group of international students at UA, but they enroll in fewer numbers than at some comparable schools, said Cameron Caja, visiting student program coordinator with UA’s International Students and Scholars office.

Kent said universities benefit financially from international students, as most pay nonresident tuition that, at $ 810.26 per undergraduate credit hour this fall, is more than twice the $302.07 rate for in-state undergraduates.

Domestic students also receive a broader experience by sharing the classroom with students from other countries, Kent said.

“Having students not from the United States helps them have a more global view,” Kent said.

UA this past fall enrolled 191 Chinese students — including 71 undergraduates — out of 1,469 total international students, according to university data provided to the Democrat-Gazette.

The total student population in fall 2016 was 27,194 students, according to a university enrollment report.

The Chinese population at UA has grown compared with fall 2008, when 119 Chinese students, including 16 undergraduates, were enrolled, according to university data.

But many thousands more Chinese undergraduates have studied in the United States over a similar time period, with 135,629 enrolled in 201516 compared with 26,275 in 2008-09.

UA and Soochow University struck an agreement to create what’s known as a 3+1 program, with Chinese students completing three years of undergraduate study before arriving in Fayetteville for their final year.

Upon completion of degree requirements, they will receive a bachelor’s degree from both Soochow University and UA.

Kent said the students all demonstrate proficiency in English.

Supply chain management involves the study of transportation and distribution

systems for business. Kent said the course of study makes sense given China’s prominence in international trade.

“These students are on the leading edge for this career for a young person coming out of college,” Kent said.

An agreement document, as presented in 2015 to UA’s Faculty Senate, stated: “It is expected that there will be 100 students per cohort as outlined in the [memorandum of understanding]. However, it is recognized that in this first cohort some attrition may occur due to several effects (e.g., the confusion over payment, failure to meet language or GPA requirement, etc.) Both parties shall work to minimize the attrition ratio.”

Kent said totals of students entering the program have been as expected. Some attrition has taken place with students deciding on a different course of study, though until recently dozens of Chinese students were still expected to arrive this fall in Fayetteville, he said.

“We were thinking 12 months ago that it could be as many as 60 students,” Kent said.

Each summer, UA faculty

had traveled to China to teach a few courses, with the program designed so that the Chinese students already complete 18 semester hours of UA coursework prior to arriving in Fayetteville. A total of 120 credit hours are needed for any UA degree.

But a video produced by UA last summer explained that students were required to pay for the UA instruction that took place in China, in addition to expenses related to coming to the Fayetteville campus.

Kent said courses weren’t initially paid for because, according to Chinese regulations, students can “only pay tuition to a U.S. university when they’re in the U.S.”

After the video explained the costs, “that’s when the confusion over payment, it’s when it hit home for the students and the families,” Kent said. “That’s the No. 1 reason for the attrition.”

Now, “all of that is behind us,” Kent said, with UA having received payment for the courses taught. Beginning this summer, UA faculty no longer travel to China to teach as they did in 2015 and 2016. Instead, the Chinese students take online courses taught to UA faculty, Kent said.

“As we’ve talked to more people in China — not just at this university, but others — having about 40 students from that 100 that actually complete the program at both universities is a more realistic number, and our goal,” Kent said.

Caja said he’s met with the Chinese students and continues to field questions from them online as their date of arrival nears. They will arrive in mid-August for an orientation before fall semester classes begin, Kent said.

“For the vast majority, this is their very first time in the U.S. Many of them have never even left the province that they live in in China,” Caja said.

Caja, also a master’s student at UA studying higher education, said there’s “been some growing pains” with the program. But he said the university is working to make sure the students have a great experience once they make it to Fayetteville, while the Chinese students are excited about becoming international students.

“Those students who hung on through all of this, they really are passionate,” Caja said.