The NEW American Dream as realized by foreign students coming to America to receive the BEST possible college education

Economic Impact:

International students contribute $17.8 billion to the US economy, through expenditures on tuition and living expenses.

Source: US Dept of Commerce

In China, rising incomes and the cheap dollar are increasingly making an American university education affordable. Many US schools, including small liberal arts colleges, are reaching out to Chinese families in the hope of establishing their brand in a region rich with promising young students. 

"They look at an education in the United States as something valuable," said Penny Johnston, the director of international admissions at Franklin & Marshall College. "It is different than the education they would get in China."
  
Johnston, along with her colleagues, is now traveling to China regularly to learn about geography and culture. "It's only been the last six or seven years that I have been traveling to China but each year I do a little bit more," said Johnston.

Among colleges that do not have a worldwide brand, there is a sense of urgency to get a critical mass of students from China, said John Latting, director of undergraduate admissions at Johns Hopkins University. "There needs to be an effect of building communities of people who have heard of the college," said Latting. In this growing and sometimes chaotic market, though, admissions officers face challenges. High schools and their standards are unknown and a growing number of agents that promise Chinese students placement in US schools have been unreliable and sometimes proven to be fraudulent. Johnston has occasionally asked her current students from China to help her with identifying fake transcripts. "If I ask them specifically to look at a letterhead, signature or a seal that has been stamped, some of them have been able to help me," Johnston said. China is not unique in the world in this aspect, said Latting. "The problem is just so much bigger because the growth is so much faster."

Madonna in Venice promoting new movie release of "W.E."

Singer Madonna waves to her fans as she arrives for the premiere of her movie "W.E." at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 1, 2011

(SEPTEMBER, 2011) "W.E.," Madonna's cinematic take on the love story of American divorcee Wallis Simpson and Britain's King Edward VIII, who abdicated to marry her, has been roundly panned after its premiere Thursday night at the Venice Film Festival.

The script - co-written by Madonna and "Truth or Dare" director Alex Keshishian - and Madonna's direction took the brunt of the criticism. More than one critic drew comparisons between this film, due out Dec. 9, and last year's Oscar winner "The King's Speech," which covers the same events.

This is the pop star's second directorial effort; her first was "Filth and Wisdom" in 2008.

The Material Girl may have inadvertently insulted her two ex-husbands with comments on the red carpet before the premiere. She thanked Sean Penn and Guy Ritchie, both directors themselves, for encouraging her to take up a career in the movies and said she had learned a lot from them. At the premiere, she wore a Vionnet gown with train and vintage red-framed sunglasses.