USC Heads to China

President Folt Engages with Alumni

USC has long enrolled students from China and many have become leaders in a variety of fields. Among the most notable was Lei Jieqiong 雷洁琼, who earned a master's degree at USC in 1931 in sociology and helped to create the field in China. She later served as vice-mayor of Beijing, and USC President Sample visited her in 2006. In recent decades, Chinese students became the largest contingent of international students. USC now has thousands of alumni in the region and collaborative research and teaching programs with a number of universities. Last week, USC President Carol Folt visited Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei to celebrate this history and to connect with alumni and the families of current students. 

Chinese students have historically had a large presence on campus, and it is a trend that President Folt hopes will continue. According to President Folt, "China boasts excellent universities and talented, hard working students. We welcome Chinese students to pursue their studies at USC. We have full confidence in the educational collaboration between China and the United States."

The data above is from the USC Office of International Services. It does not include students from Hong Kong or Taiwan. In 2021, USC had 97 students from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and 405 students from Taiwan. In 2021, some 290,086 students from China were studying in the U.S., a big drop from the 372,532 students here in fall 2019.

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