近年来，随着收入增长，越来越多的中国家庭选择让自己的孩子出国留学。据悉，目前美国的国际学生中近1/3来自中国;而在英国，中国留学生是最大的国际学生群体，过去一年来自中国的申请数量骤增30%。
(via AFP)
8月12日，法新社也发表文章，揭露因中国学生的出国留学梦而催生出来的造假行业：
(via AFP)
From hiring ghostwriters and forging sports credentials to generous 'gift-giving', admissions middlemen in China are advising wealthy parents to take an array of 'shortcuts' to secure places at foreign universities.
从招徕“枪手”到伪造体育资质和慷慨“送礼”，中国的招生中介正为富裕家庭出谋划策，通过各种“捷径”确保获得外国大学的入学名额。
The service comes with a hefty price tag, often running into tens of thousands of dollars, but nonetheless the industry is booming.
尽管这种服务价格不菲，高达数万美元，但该行业仍在野蛮生长。
The lengths to which some are willing to go to were highlighted in the admissions scandal that shook US universities this year, where prosecutors found one Chinese family had given $6.5 million to an admissions agent to get their daughter to Stanford, while another had coughed up $1.2 million for entry to Yale.
这从今年发生在美国的一些高校招生丑闻中可见一斑：一个中国家庭向招生中间人支付了650万美元(当事人为赵雨思,其父是中国步长制药董事长赵涛)，将其女儿送入了斯坦福大学;另一个中国家庭为耶鲁大学的一个入学名额支付了120万美元(当事人为郭佳欣，英文名为Sherry Guo，有媒体爆料称她的父亲是中国的A级通缉犯郭虎林)。
"In the admissions world, it's called gift-giving instead of bribing. About $10,000 is on the lower end of the spectrum. An average gift will be about $250,000," one former college counsellor revealed, on condition of anonymity.
一位前大学招生顾问表示，“在招生界，这被称作‘送礼’而非贿赂。最低价位为1万美元，平均礼金约为25万美元。”
(via AFP)
Fu Rao's family spent 250,000 yuan ($36,300) on her admissions consultant. The entire package included advice on how to correspond with professors, which courses to take to make sure her high school transcript was filled with A grades, and how to chat about American football.
付娆(音)的家长向她的入学顾问支付了25万元人民币。服务套餐包括如何与教授通信的建议，参加哪些课程以确保她能在高中成绩单上填满“A”，以及如何聊美式橄榄球等。
"Many students volunteer at schools for rural children in China, so I had to do something different to make my application stand out from the crowd," explained 16-year-old Fu.
“许多学生到(中国的)农村学校当志愿者，所以我不得不另辟蹊径，以使我的申请脱颖而出”，16岁的她解释说。
Nearly a dozen parents interviewed by AFP said they were willing to shell out top dollar to admissions services, because they felt they were taking a huge risk by sending their children abroad, with the US, Britain, and Australia most popular for higher education.
中国家长们表示，他们愿意为招生服务慷慨解囊。因为他们觉得随着美国，英国和澳大利亚成了高等教育最受欢迎的留学目的地后，他们将孩子送出国留学面临巨大竞争压力。
(via AFP)
事实上，这种招生中介早就在中国留学圈里见怪不怪。随便在网上一搜，全是去世界各地留学的中介报价与信息。同时，又由于竞争激烈性和中国家长普遍有之的“名校情怀”，这些提供招生服务的中介价格十分不菲。
(via Internet)
面对这样的情况，外国网友有什么看法呢?
@jm:
What is missing in these types of stories is how the kids are able to stay in school when not academically qualified. Easy programs? If one pays one guaranteed to complete education? I would think they will flunk out in the first semester. I know if I conned my way into being a brain surgeon it would be noticed in my first surgery.
这种故事里缺少的部分是这些学术上并不具备资格被录取的学生后面怎么在学校里呆得下去。选择学校里最简单的课程?还是他们付的钱保证他们完成学业?我觉得他们第一学期就得退学。我知道如果我靠着欺骗的伎俩当上了一名脑科大夫，第一次手术我就会被暴露。
@cl:
It’s true people who attend Ivy League schools read different books and learn different materials that are not available anywhere else.
这是真的。那些上了常春藤的人，他们看的书和学的东西是别的地方所没有的。
@Tixus7:
The difference in lifetime earnings from getting a degree from Stanford vs. other mid-tier solid college will never exceed the $6.5 millions those parents paid. Same for the $1.2 million for Yale. But as long as there are crazy people with money, there will be people finding good ways to take it from them - praying on the kids always worked.
斯坦福毕业的和一般大学毕业出来的人的收入差并不会超过那些家长所付的650万美元，或者那些家长为让他们的孩子上耶鲁所付的120万美元。但是只要有疯狂的有钱人存在，就会有人花言巧语地从他们身上骗走这些钱——用孩子的前程作理由总是行得通的。
(via Yahoo news)
你对于这样的现象有什么看法呢？欢迎留言并分享你的观点！
