( CNN ) -- American higher education is in the cross hairs of a heated national debate over the value and cost of a college degree . Yet in China , our fiercest global economic competitor , the popularity of American colleges and universities might be at an all-time high . I just returned from a trip to Beijing , where I spoke with Chinese parents about the value of American education , where we excel and where we fall short . Not surprising was the extent to which the Chinese value education , especially primary and secondary education , and yearn for their children to attend American universities , and if possible , stay in America . When I engaged Chinese parents about their children , they would often say , `` My son ( or daughter ) is going to Princeton ( or fill in the elite American university ) . '' I would respond , `` Great ! What year is your son or daughter right now ? '' And they would say , `` Three years old . '' This passion for education starting at such an early age is powerful . After meeting with Chinese teachers , parents and children , three differences were immediately clear . First , their children are better educated than American children in the STEM fields -- science , technology , engineering and math . High standards and high expectations are the norm in China , not the exception , as is often the case in the United States . Second , Chinese parents will sacrifice almost anything for their child 's education . They realize firsthand , `` History is a race between education and catastrophe , '' as H.G . Wells put it . In China , the disposable income of middle-class families is more likely to be spent on education than leisure or entertainment . Third , to the Chinese people , American universities , for all their shortcomings and blemishes , are still beacons of freedom , individualism and self-improvement . To them , our universities are emblems of the highest achievement . In Asia , they have a saying : `` The protruding nail gets hammered down . '' In America , we give awards for protruding nails . Our standards should be higher and our achievement better , but we still remain a land of unlimited opportunity . Each of my speeches in China began by reminding the Chinese people of the three , quintessential American values engraved , on our currency : Liberty , In God We Trust and E. Pluribus Unum . Politically , we may be at odds with the Chinese regime , but its people desperately long for a taste of American autonomy . RISE China , the private international education company that invited me to China and for which I am a compensated senior adviser , focuses on teaching idiomatic English to Chinese students to help them get into American universities . It also helps Chinese students develop confidence , initiative , commitment and active learning -- all qualities that are cherished by our higher institutions . As a result , the number of Chinese undergraduate students in the U.S. has doubled in the past two years . In the 2006-07 academic year , 9,955 Chinese undergraduates enrolled in U.S. schools . The next year , that figure jumped to 16,450 , and by 2010-11 , 56,976 undergraduates enrolled in the U.S. China exports more of its students to the U.S. than to any other country . They are already reaping the benefits educationally and economically . In February 2011 , in a meeting with Silicon Valley 's biggest entrepreneurs , President Barack Obama asked Steve Jobs of Apple what it would take to make iPhones in the U.S. rather than China . Jobs replied that those jobs are n't coming back . The New York Times reported it this way : `` Apple executives believe the vast scale of overseas factories as well as the flexibility , diligence and industrial skills of foreign workers have so outpaced their American counterparts that `` Made in the U.S.A. '' is no longer a viable option for most Apple products . '' The Chinese realize the potential of American universities when engaged properly . When a student approaches the university with a specific degree focus , applies it with diligence and finances it soundly , understanding the commitment he or she is making , the American university system is still the best in the world . American students must begin approaching their higher education just as smartly and seriously , or our academies will be filled with aspiring and inquiring minds from elsewhere . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of William Bennett .
Bennett : Many Chinese yearn to send their children to China universities . William Bennett : Chinese students better prepared in science , math ; parental expectations higher . In U.S. , U.S. colleges represent freedom , individualism , self-improvement , he says . He warns that U.S. must approach education as focused as the Chinese .