Chinese Families Paying to Get Their Kids into Elite, American Colleges

[Life Long Learning]

Many Asians take "Personal Branding" more serious than Americans.

[dfrecore]

I still think it's ridiculous. If I had $6M to throw away, I'd have my kid work in my business with me, and maybe get a degree if they wanted one, wherever they wanted. If they didn't want one, I'd be fine with that as well.

To me, the reason you go out and work hard in HS is to get into a decent school to get a degree so you can live a decent life with a decent job. If you don't need money, then you don't need the rest of that stuff. You already HAVE a decent (more than) life.

If money was no object, my son would join the military at 18. Since he wants to make more money than he can as an enlisted person, he's thinking of going to college on an ROTC scholarship so he can be an officer.

My daughter hates school. If money was no object, she'd quit now (in HS). She'd find things to do to be productive, but school certainly wouldn't be it.

Any way you slice it, they would not spend $6M do bribe their way into ANY college. Ever. They'd rather have the cash!

[Jonathan Whatley]

To me, the reason you go out and work hard in HS is to get into a decent school to get a degree so you can live a decent life with a decent job.

Maybe that hard work, decent school, decent life sequence works out for most people in the middle and the 'solid' working class in the U.S.

There are parts of the world where the same sequence is considerably less likely to lead to a decent life. I'm not saying a Chinese family with 6.5 mil for college admissions gaming is in immediate humanitarian crisis. Broader point, China may be one of the places the sequence may not work as reliably. Just 43 years ago, Mao was in power and there was little if any private business wealth. Maybe the ways parents try to leave something for the next generation should look different there, in some details.

[Merlin]

Any way you slice it, they would not spend $6M do bribe their way into ANY college.  Ever.  They'd rather have the cash!

If your family had enough money that dropping $6 million on something isn't a big deal, then you and they might have a different perspective. When money isn't the biggest issue, then status and power become more important. Both of which can be more easily had by the right education and connections.

Though in some cases education is a misnomer since I'm certain that some students manage to avoid learning anything. They have people who ensure they are able to pass their courses.

[armstrongsubero]

Its all about branding and a status symbol. Asian culture works very different and education is held in very high regard.

It makes sense when you spend enough time with them.

Guy with Filipina fiance and Chinese best friend here.

[nyvrem]

the kid's father is a billionaire. what's $6m to them honestly. if they wanted a PR/Citizenship anywhere in the world, they could just go via an investment visa program. there's no need to have a paper from Stanford to 'open doors'. at the end of the day, it's Chinese (not the country, the race) pride flushed with money.

[sanantone]

Since bribing schools to accept kids seems to be more common than previously known, I suspect that many wealthy families know how to keep the wealth in the family. Not going to college is not an option. They're not going to turn over the family business to an heir who only has a high school diploma. Some families probably expect their kids to forge their own path, and elite schools get them the connections and a boost on their resumes. There's some keeping up with the Joneses and eugenics, too. You don't want to tell your peers at a dinner party that your kid is going to Backwoods State University because she wasn't smart enough to get into a "good" school.

Running a business is hard. Even if you removed the taxes and regulations, most businesses would still fail. These kids are being groomed to maintain generational wealth.

[dfrecore]

Since bribing schools to accept kids seems to be more common than previously known, I suspect that many wealthy families know how to keep the wealth in the family. Not going to college is not an option. They're not going to turn over the family business to an heir who only has a high school diploma. Some families probably expect their kids to forge their own path, and elite schools get them the connections and a boost on their resumes. There's some keeping up with the Joneses and eugenics, too. You don't want to tell your peers at a dinner party that your kid is going to Backwoods State University because she wasn't smart enough to get into a "good" school.

Running a business is hard. Even if you removed the taxes and regulations, most businesses would still fail. These kids are being groomed to maintain generational wealth.

Dave Ramsey's kids are being groomed to maintain generational wealth, and they went to state schools. A majority of Fortune 500 CEO's didn't go to an Ivy.  So I'm not certain that this is all true.

You can learn to run a business without a business degree, and you can certainly learn to run one with a degree from a local state school.  I think people are bribing their kids into top schools for bragging rights only.

[Jonathan Whatley]

Businesses close, family fortunes fall, but except in cases of misconduct a graduate will never lose their degree, and they'll often hold on to quite a bit of intangible good from the experience. It's a different type of asset.

[armstrongsubero]

@dfrecore I agree. Dave Ramsey is awesome and his kids are on the right track.