NYU Shanghai and DKU will serve as models for all U.S. universities considering expansion of undergraduate programs in China

There are more students attending universities in China than any other country. Many, many more. In June, 2015, a total of 9.42 million Chinese students wrote the National Higher Education Entrance Examination (Gaokao), a prerequisite for entrance into almost all higher education institutions at the undergraduate level in China. Gaokao is a very stressful, multi-day standardized test that is administered once a year. In comparison, the U.S. administers its university entrance exam, the SAT, seven times a year, easing the pressure on students, who have the option of writing it more than once a year. The Gaokao score is the primary tool used to determine whether the test taker can attend university, and more importantly, which particular university.

Acceptance into a top-tier Chinese university improves one’s career prospects exponentially, but space is limited. Peking University and Tsinghua University are the only two Chinese universities that regularly make the grade when various well-known publications and authorities rate the world’s top 100 universities. Unfortunately for the 9.42 million test-takers this year, China’s top two universities only have about 6,000 spots available. There are less prestigious but still well-established Chinese universities including Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Fudan University and Nanjing University, but they also have limited space compared with the overflowing number of qualified applicants.

Considering the odds of getting into a good undergraduate program in China are very low, it is no wonder there are so many documented cases of high school students feeling intense pressure and suffering nightmares during the nights leading up to the exam. The very low odds also contribute to the growing trend of Chinese students heading to North America to study and receive what they consider a high-quality education. According to annual figures from the Institute of International Education, 274,439 Chinese attended universities in the U.S. in the 2013-14 academic year, far more than any other country (by comparison, India placed second, with 102,673 Indians attending universities in the U.S., followed by third place South Korea, with 68,047). The number of Chinese studying at universities in the U.S. is up 17 per cent from the previous year.

An incredibly competitive process for attending a well-known university in China, a shortage of top-tier universities in China (for the number of applicants) and an increasing number of Chinese students making their way to the U.S. show there is a large demand for high-quality education in China, and many U.S. universities are considering filling the gap by establishing campuses in China. It is a costly venture to consider, in terms of money, faculty resources and time invested in government relations, but more and more universities are thinking seriously about it.

There are currently 33 foreign educational institutions established in China. Of that number, 13 are from the U.S., 8 are from the U.K., and the rest are from various other countries. Most of the universities have started with small ventures, forming strategic partnerships with local universities and offering post graduate studies or specialized training. Carnegie Mellon University, for example, has a presence in Guangzhou. It and Sun Yat-Sen University have partnered to create the Joint Institute of Engineering, allowing students from each university to study at both campuses, enabling for a broadened, cross-cultural education that global engineering firms deem incredibly valuable.

John Hopkins University of Washington D.C. also has operations overseas, with one campus in Bologna, Italy, and another in Nanjing, China, where it has a partnership with Nanjing University. The campus in Nanjing is part of SJU’s School of Advanced International Studies, offering various Master of Arts’ programs, a Master of International Economics and Finance, a Master of International Public Policy, a Doctor of Philosophy, and several other post graduate programs.

Offering post graduate studies, which inherently means smaller classes, fewer faculty members and a smaller curriculum to prepare, is a cost-effective way for U.S. universities to explore the market in China, form valuable partnerships with local universities and gather on-the-ground research about how educational institutions operate in China. For a U.S. university to build a campus in China that offers an undergraduate degree, there are many more risks, including large financial losses and damage to an institution’s reputation and brand.

Steven Lerman, the provost of the George Washington University School of Business, said last year in March to Inside Higher Ed that there are four key principles that a university must follow to have a successful campus in China:

(1)The China campus must meet the academic standards of the institutions primary campus.
(2)It must be a financially self-sustaining enterprise.
(3)It must align with the university’s strategic plan.
(4)It must have strong support from all faculty of the original campus.

Ultimately, this means co-operation from local governments, which grant land, approve construction and sometimes finance entire operations. It also means creating a curriculum that suits both the university standards at home in the U.S. and also the standards of the Ministry of Education in China.

New York University, which in 2012 partnered with East China Normal University in Shanghai to form New York University Shanghai, is currently the gold standard for U.S. universities that are thinking about building a campus in China. It is the first American university to receive independent registration status from China’s Ministry of Education, but it is not solely an American institution. As a joint venture university, the Chinese government controls 51 per cent of NYU Shanghai, and NYU controls the other 49 per cent. As a result, 51 per cent of the students accepted into the university must be Chinese. The rest can come from anywhere else, although the remaining students are predominantly from the U.S. The Chinese government also financed most of the start-up fees and continues to provide support to the institution’s operations. Before anyone should suggest that funding from China could impede NYU’s control over curriculum and policy implementation, NYU Shanghai’s vice-chancellor, Jeff Lehman (the former president of Cornell), has said the Ministry of China has not overruled any of the university’s curriculum, and the government has allowed the university to operate based on its worldwide standards.

Lena Scheen, an assistant professor of literature at NYU Shanghai, verified, “There is no restriction whatsoever in our academic freedom or in the classroom even though the Chinese government funds us, just like in any other place I’ve worked where governments funded my university.” The Chinese government has designated NYU Shanghai’s model as a top priority, and considers it an important part of implementing the government’s medium and long-term education reform plan.

The first NYU Shanghai undergraduate class enrolled in the fall of 2013, with an anticipated graduation date of 2017. There were 295 students admitted, 150 from China and 145 from international destinations, mostly the U.S. NYU Shanghai’s goal is to eventually have between 1,600 and 2,400 students attending classes, all of which are taught in English. The university currently offers 13 majors: biology, business and finance, chemistry, computer engineering, computer science, economics, electrical engineering, global China studies, integrated humanities, interactive media arts, mathematics, neural science and physics.

There are other U.S. universities in China that have seemingly less control over their organization. Kean University, a public university in New Jersey, has a joint venture with Wenzhou University in Zhejiang province called Wenzhou Kean University. It is a 300-acre campus financed by municipal and provincial governments in China, which offers undergraduate programs featuring seven majors: accounting, finance, global business, marketing, graphic design, teaching English in global settings and computer science. In July, 2015, the university posted on its website a job posting for a “Specialist for Residence Life.” In the qualifications section of the job description, the university notes among the qualifications that “overseas working/study experience is preferred,” which is a normal qualification for such a position, but also, “Membership in Chinese Communist Party is preferred.” Kean’s response regarding this posting to Inside Higher Ed was as follows, “Kean University is responsible for the academics at WKU and our Chinese partners are responsible for all the general operations and student services.”

The next high-profile university with plans to launch an undergraduate program is Duke University, which has partnered with Wuhan University and the Kunshan government to launch Duke Kunshan University, also known as DKU. Dr. Denis Simon, the executive vice-chancellor of DKU, said the government has in no way tried to change curriculums or force the university’s hand in deciding what courses to offer, or who to hire. For now, DKU only offers master’s programs, but Dr. Simon anticipates opening doors for undergraduate studies at DKU in the fall of 2018. NYU Shanghai and soon DKU, both high-profile institutions, will serve as the models for other U.S. universities interested in filling the demand for high-quality educational institutions in China in the upcoming years.