A Growing number of internationally prestigious universities are starting to fix their eye on China. With Nottingham University already successfully operating in Ningbo, and plans underway to set up a New York University in Shanghai, the options for studying at the world’s top universities right here in China, look promising.

Nottingham University in Ningbo

1) Nottingham University in Ningbo
Nottingham University – China’s first Sino-foreign university – was founded in 2005 in Zhejiang. However, according to a statement by Zhejiang Province, the region is striving to attract two to three more prestigious Sino-foreign universities from abroad by 2015. Furthermore, the plan is to launch a number of Sino-foreign programmes that will not only increase the scale of foreign teacher recruitment, but will also attract overseas talent and excellent teaching materials.

To date, Nottingham University in Ningbo already enjoys a rather high reputation among exam candidates in China, and the atmosphere of its English-style campus further adds a breath of fresh air to academic life. Ningbo’s Nottingham University has fostered three rounds of undergraduates and four rounds of postgraduates. Over 5000 students are currently registered there, of which 90% are undergraduates and 10% are postgraduates. Moreover, 6% of the students there are from overseas, coming from more than 30 different countries.

The Ningbo campus models its teaching approach on the University of Nottingham’s methods, which means a break from the usual cramming methods used by universities elsewhere in China. Distinctive teaching features taught at the Ningbo campus include small seminar groups, tutorials, a grading system and special training to develop team player skills. However, what sets this university apart from all others in the mainland is their encouragement to train students to become independent learners and creative thinkers. About 60% of undergraduates from Ningbo’s Nottingham University get accepted in famous universities abroad to continue with postgraduate studies. Many of the university’s graduates go on to work at Procter & Gamble in Guangzhou, PWC, KPMG, Ernst & Young Hua Ming, Standard Chartered Bank and many more famous enterprises from China and abroad.

New York University

2) New York University in Shanghai
Preparation to begin construction of New York University (NYU) in Shanghai’s Lujiazui District has already begun and NYU is currently negotiating with East China Normal University (ECNU) about the specific details which will be revealed at a press conference in mid-April.

An executive involved with the two universities’ joint cooperation has revealed that at least one third of the faculty will come from NYU while faculty from ECNU will teach courses related to Chinese history, culture and more. Besides the teachers from NYU and ECNU, courses will also be taught by specially selected faculty from around the world. Students fees will be less than those in New York and not more expensive than universities in Hong Kong and Macao. Moreover, NYU in Shanghai not only plans to teach such reputed NYU disciplines as finance, economics and mathematics, but is also designing specialized disciplines needed to develop Shanghai as a centre of international finance and an international shipping hub etc. Another special feature of NYU in Shanghai will be that students will spend at least one, or a maximum of two, semesters abroad in order to cultivate international talents in a cross-cultural environment.

Cooperation between NYU in Shanghai and ECNU will begin this year in the area of joint graduate program and executive training program. Recruitment for postgraduate students is also expected to begin this year.

Nottingham University is currently in similar talks to open a campus in Shanghai, but the major difference with the Shanghai campus is that it will shift its focus form social sciences to engineering. Furthermore, plans are underway to construct the Shanghai Zizhu International Education Park within the next five years, as are negotiations to attract internationally prestigious schools and universities such as American Ivy League schools to set up campuses and recruit foreign students.

3) Fudan University
Fudan University cooperates with such prestigious international universities as Columbia, Institut d'Etudes Politiques and London School of Economics to cultivate talent in the fields of news and media.

4) University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
USST cooperates with 11 higher education institutes from England, setting up the USST Sino-British College.

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

5) Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
Just like Ningbo’s Nottingham University, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) has also been approved by the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education to become an independent Sino-foreign university. Located in Suzhou Industrial Park, XJTLU is the result of a partnership between The University of Liverpool and Xi’an Jiaotong University. With a heavy focus on engineering courses, classes are taught in English and teaching standards are modeled on the University of Liverpool system. Faculty has been recruited from across the globe and foreign teachers account for about 70%. As a result, the university has been responsible for cultivating a large number of engineering talents in the Yangtze River Delta area.

According to a statement by the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education, in the next few years the provincial government plans to build 3-4 more independent Sino-foreign partnered universities. At present, a number of universities in the province including Nanjing Normal University, are currently in talks with top universities and colleges from America, Australia and other countries to secure similar partnerships. In general, these universities are only considering partnering with universities that are within the top 200 of the world university rankings.   

Source: ifeng.com
 

Related links
Shanghai Sister Campus Planned for University of Nottingham Ningbo
Top Universities in the World: Mainland Cracks Top 50
10 Best Universities in China

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Keywords: new york university China sino-foreign universities internationally prestigious universities China Foreign universities China