I'm a Chinese engineer working outside US and China. A few points that I think is relevant: The culture in universities are generally more relaxed with process

I'm a Chinese engineer working outside US and China. A few points that I think is relevant: The culture in universities are generally more relaxed with processes being more open as compared to high schools. This is more pronounced in China with college entrance exams being the most stressful and rigorous process that decides your future. So when students join colleges (China or US), they would no longer feel restricted by the rigorous curriculum and exams in high school. Like a spring that has been pressed for very long time, they would "bounce back" and neglect their school work, sometimes going too far into cheating. While this issue in generally applicable anywhere, China's college entrance exam makes it worse for Chinese students entering college. On top of that, overseas colleges are farther from their families and friends so they feel even less restrictions and easily steer into wrong paths. The other point to consider is that part of the overseas Chinese student body consists of rich kids whom their parents sent to overseas in search of better education. They might not have the same aptitude as others who studied hard and passed exams to go overseas hence resort more to cheating.