US exam publisher tests Chinese market

High school graduate Liu Mengze from Jiangsu province went to Hong Kong twice this year - not for leisure but to sit the college admission exams for the United States.

Because there are no test sites on the mainland for such exams, an increasing number of test takers are traveling to Hong Kong, creating booming opportunities for publishers, training agencies and even tourism.

For mainland students, a ticket to undergraduate schools at colleges and universities in the US means expenses of nearly 50,000 yuan ($8,000) on training, 60,000 yuan on applications and 3,000 yuan for each trip to take an exam in Hong Kong.

Many have to take at least two tests to get a better score. If enrolled, it is another 1 million yuan for tuition on average.

"My mom and dad have saved the money for me since I was little," said Liu. "They want me to receive the best education."

As more Chinese parents with higher incomes are willing to pay for their children's college education, the lucrative Chinese market has attracted many international test providers, two well-known examples being the US-oriented TOEFL and UK-designed IELTS.

Years after the SAT, a standardized test for college admissions in the US, was introduced and dominated the college admission exam market in China, another major US test organization, ACT Inc, announced its plans to grab a piece of the pie.

On Friday, ACT joined hands with Chinese company ATA, a domestic test and education service provider, to "address key education and workforce development needs" in China.

Under the framework, ATA will assist ACT to provide tests for international students on the mainland and students for the Global Assessment Certificate Program, a university preparation program for students who do not have English as their first language.

"The reasons we are working together is to increase the awareness of ACT as another option for Chinese students," said ATA President Walter Wang, and "to enable significant growth in the market".

In the US, more than 1.66 million students in the 2012 high school graduating class - more than half of all graduates - took the ACT, said David Chadima, ACT vice-president for international group activities.

China is the No 1 source of foreign students to the US with about 160,000 Chinese students studying there, Chadima said.

In the past decade, the growth of applicants for college admission tests in the US has risen sharply, said Fan Meng, director of the North America exams department of New Oriental Education and Technology Group, one of the leading test preparation companies in China.

Fierce competition to enroll in local colleges and the eagerness to have their children exposed to the international arena have motivated Chinese parents to invest in their children's undergraduate education in the US, Fan said.

On the US side, the attempt to attract Chinese students has become more zealous since the 2008 global financial crisis, Fan said.

There have been about 10,000 test takers on each of the six test dates this year in Hong Kong - about 99 percent from the mainland, Fan said. For New Oriental, the number of students taking SAT courses has grown at least 30 percent each year, he said.

The visits have boosted the airline and hospitality industries.

"During the test days, hotels in Hong Kong are almost fully booked," Fan said.

wangzhuoqiong@chinadaily.com.cn