About 80,000 foreign students will begin their Beijing college life today, 10,000 more than last year.

Students will principally major in Chinese, history, engineering, business and economics, according to the Beijing Daily.

More students appear drawn to Beijing as the number of scholarships expands and the overall quality of education reportedly improves.

About 240,000 foreign students studied at Chinese universities last year, according to the Associated Press. Nine years ago, that number was 52,000.

From 2004 to 2008, the number of foreign students in China increased 18 percent, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.

The growth in foreign students could be credited to improvements in English-language program quality, better facilities and services, said Wu Yunxin, director of the Foreign Student Affairs Office at Tsinghua University.

Tsinghua established 12 English -language majors for foreign graduate students including business administration, Chinese law, mechanical engineering and economics.

The university announced it would have 1,959 students from 112 countries enrolled this year, an 11 percent increase.

Visiting China last year, US President Barack Obama announced that 100,000 Americans would be sent to study in China over the next four years.

About 18,000 American students studied at Chinese universities in 2009.

Education Minister Yuan Guiren said on December 4 the government would offer scholarships to 20,000 foreign students in 2010, an increase of 2,000 over 2009, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Not including tuition costs, Chinese scholarships normally provide expats with a 1,400 to 2,000 yuan ($205.8-294) monthly living stipend.

"The number of applicants for scholarships is increasing dramatically," said an enrollment official surnamed Yan at Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU).

"Applicants come mostly from Japan, South Korea, the US and Europe," Yan said. "Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language is our most popular major."