Hacker News Reader

Comment by zengid | Hacker News Reader

That would explain why my school's international students have such nice, James Bond-esk, cars.

Eh... I worked at a community college whose bread and butter was international students. Lots of them had really expensive cars. Not sure why China would send hundreds of operatives to infiltrate a community college and then pay to put them in flashy cars. It's more likely just rich parents.

Even the ones driving 15 year old Chryslers likely have wealthy parents. University is absurdly expensive for international students of no particular note. On the order of $100k/yr in tuition for a no-name state school.

What's another $50k when you're spending half a million dollars to educate your kid?

What no-name state school cost $100k/yr for international students?

It is absurdly more expensive for int'l students but not $100k/yr.

For example UC Berkeley costs $45k/year for international students [1].

[1] https://internationaloffice.berkeley.edu/students/current/ex...

In your same link the undergrad living expenses is $64k/yr.

live off campus?

I don't think that's an accurate representation of what the estimates are at the link. In particular, the linked page lists undergraduate tuition and fees at $45014/academic year, living expenses at $2100/month (x9 months, leading to $18900/academic year) totaling to $63914 combined tuition+fees+estimated living expenses.

So? That's not $100k/yr. Plus poster said tuition, not total living expenses. And that's just an estimate, one can live more frugally if required.

The other reply has clarified that state schools don't cost that much. But just to add on, a lot of international students are merely upper-middle class in their own countries (i.e. family has 1 non-luxury car, lives in a 2 bedroom apartment, takes 1 international vacation every 3-5 years). They take out student loans just like American students and count on paid internships and post-completion Optional Practical Training jobs to pay off those loans. While they're studying they tend to live very frugally - no cars, very little eating out or partying, sharing rooms etc.

Universities can be expensive, but community colleges typically aren’t. Most of the fuerdai in community colleges are probably studying English to get into a university. Even though they are rich, they won’t turn down a good deal when they can get one (and since luxury cars are so much cheaper in the USA than China, they are considered good deals as well).

Community colleges are significantly more expensive for international students; at the local ones nearby you're looking at paying 4-5x more.

Sure, but the base is low.

It's on the order of $10,000-15,000. That's just slightly under the price of a university education for in-state students.

One of the services my company in Shanghai provides is review and final edit of applications, sometimes as a second check against what domestic (read non-native speaker) agencies have created. CC is seen as a stepping stone to 4 year degree schools. Usually it is rich kids who had no chance or inclination to pass the Chinese university entrance exam. Also many are told by the said agencies, it is the fast track to US citizenship. Most parents want a foothold in other countries as backup plan to get capital and themselves out of the PRC over time.

Yeah I want to add that at a lot of universities there isn’t much financial aid for international students. As a result only the richest families can afford to send their children here.

I think you missed the joke here

a lot of this probably is "if you see something useful to the motherland, let us know." Or being approached when the state agencies decide you're useful. Not everyone is a card-carrying spy.

It's perfectly normal to have loyalties to your own (or original) country, US and China aren't exactly like USA and England, relationship wise. Most US citizens would probably do the same in China.

Add the fact that China has a lot more leverage than a "normal" country when it comes to blackmailing families /friends.

Those cars are more expensive to purchase in China/Saudi Arabia/Qatar/etc then they are to purchase in the USA/Canada/etc and import later. Additionally, exotic cars tend to hold value well and are easy to sell for liquid assets.

Thus, for wealthy international families sending a student to North America, this is a two-birds-one-stone situation. The child gets a nice way to get around and the parents get a discount on their nice car when they bring it back. The car even doubles as a reasonably stable way to stash cash abroad in a stable asset.

They can’t actually import them into china, it is ridiculously expensive to get a car last customs. My old boss tried to get his Hummer imported into china from the USA and could never even get it approved.

This might just be my bias, but I wouldn't necessarily call a high-performance luxury car being driven by an under-occupied 19-year old a "stable asset".

A "stable asset" is a last thing I'd call a new exotic car. They lose value super fast, as they are quintessential Veblen goods.

A more likely explanation is that if you can afford to send your child far overseas, pay for international tuition, housing, etc.; then you are likely able to afford a nice car for them to drive around in.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com