This paper studies the similarities and differences between the goals of bilingual education in China and the United States. China and the U. S. have similar purposes in providing bilingual education to language minorities at the elementary-secondary school level. The Americans use bilingual education as a remedy, but most Chinese treat it as a tool for tangible interests. American colleges and universities provide monolingual instruction only, but their Chinese counterparts are promoting bilingual instruction today. Many have considered American bilingual education a failure. The validity of China's collegiate bilingual instruction is under debate. More research work must be done before we learn how bilingual education may be efficiently and effectively provided to different groups with various educational needs.