Official data for the 2013/14 year will not be available until later this semester, but "we anticipate a slight increase in the number of Chinese students this year compared to the 2012/13 year," Anne De Luca, associate vice chancellor for admissions and enrollment at Berkley, told China Daily.

Chen Yashu, a Chinese student who earned a master's degree at Michigan State and is now a PhD student at Arizona State University Tempe campus majoring in intercultural communication, said she saw a huge number of Chinese students at orientation.

"I'm not surprised to see school full of Chinese faces," she said. "But what did surprise is that my program (intercultural communication) has only three Chinese students. I had 30 classmates from China when I studied advertising at Michigan State University, where Chinese students accounted for more than two-thirds of my program."

Arizona State University expects more than 1,000 graduate students from China this fall. The university's graduate school admitted 844 Chinese students in fall 2012 and 776 in the fall 2011. China ranks second after India with the most international students in the number of graduates students at the school.

"Arizona State University has been developing partnerships and agreements with Chinese institutions and we expect this to result in an increase in graduate enrollment for students from China," said Andrew Webber, vice-provost of graduate education at the school.

US education institutions are awarding a larger number of graduate degrees to international students, especially to those from China, Mexico and Europe, according to an earlier report from the council.

"It has been my experience that Chinese students admitted to American universities are exceptionally well prepared academically and preform quite well," said Tom Watkins, former Michigan superintendent of public instruction.

"American universities and Western students are enriched by the foreign students, especially Chinese students on campus," Watkins said. "The relationship between China and the US is the most important bilateral relationship in the world today going forward, all major world issues will intersect at the corner of Beijing and Washington.

"Anytime we can expand a students horizon it is a growth experience and bodes well for both the US and China," he added.

yuwei12@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 09/03/2013 page1)