NEW YORK, N.Y., October 17, 2007—Some might call it a true great leap forward in higher education. In a move destined to establish a precedent for educating some of China’s best students, New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) has collaborated with Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT) to open an American-style undergraduate school in mainland China.

The Jiangsu provincial government in China was instrumental in laying the groundwork for the collaboration, ushering in a new era in higher education—one aimed at spawning a new breed of graduate equipped to handle the challenges of the world’s fastest-growing economy. The ministry of education financed and is completing an expansive ultramodern campus for NUPT, an elite Chinese scientific institute, and has dedicated a separate, contiguous complex to NYIT, where it will initially offer four academic degree programs and grow enrollment to 6,000 students.

NYIT has offered up its course catalog and flown in faculty to immerse 321 of China’s brightest in a Western-style college experience that will include seminars, wide-ranging debates, and question-and-answer sessions with professors and students. The all-English teaching and learning process will differ markedly from what is common throughout China.

Located in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province and China’s “city of culture,” the college is attracting students eager to earn an American baccalaureate without having to study abroad. Graduates have an option to earn “parallel degrees” from NYIT and NUPT or, if they choose, just the NYIT degree. Students can study in Nanjing or can opt to take some of their courses at NYIT campuses in New York if they are able to obtain visas.

NYIT’s Nanjing campus opened on October 8 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by government officials, administrators, faculty, and the inaugural class. Dr. Edward Guiliano, president of NYIT, delivered welcoming remarks to those in attendance.

A model university for the 21st century—designed for the global village

“NYIT’s legacy of providing student-centered education will be the focal point of what is likely China’s largest joint teaching venture with an American university,” said President Guiliano.

He added, “Our new campus and collaboration fulfills part of NYIT’s vision—building the next-generation global university. We are in China to help create human capital and a better world, and to create a model 21st-century university.”

NYIT—with programs in the Middle East, and North and South America, and now with a major new campus in China—sets a new standard for global education, erasing borders, expanding teaching and research possibilities, and granting access to a high-quality education worldwide.

Prior to establishing the Nanjing campus, NYIT already had a distinct footprint in China during the past decade, with an M.B.A. program at Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics (JUFE) in the cities of Nanchang and Shenzhen, and recently with the addition of a double-degree master’s program in human resource management at Tongji University in Shanghai. In the past several years, NYIT architecture students from New York also have visited Shanghai during the summer, and communication arts students have traveled throughout China.

“Our Nanjing campus is unlike any other in China,” said James H. Nolt, dean of NYIT’s Nanjing campus. “Chinese and American educators view it as a blueprint for quality higher education in a nation with 20 percent of the world’s population; students see it as a ticket to winning greater influence, multiple job offers, and higher salaries.”

“Chinese students are excited about attending,” he said. “Because our courses are taught in English, they will give graduates a leg up on competition for employment, especially at multinational companies with operations in China.” An NYIT degree also may increase students’ chances to pursue graduate study abroad.

Earning a Western degree in China

First-semester courses include an introduction to economics, English composition for international students, and ethics and social philosophy, as well as required courses for each major: an introduction to computers for business administration majors; fundamentals of television production for communication arts majors; and computer programming for electrical and computer engineering and computer science majors.

NYIT professors will work together to plan curriculum and cultural activities, convene virtual faculty meetings, and collaborate with Chinese academic associates. Several NYIT faculty members from the United States are based on the new campus in Nanjing, and programs are being developed to bring more American faculty to NYIT’s Nanjing campus as visiting or NYIT China-based faculty.

Global footprint in China’s “City of Culture”

Nanjing is an ideal location for NYIT’s expansion in China. The second-largest commercial center in the eastern region of China, it has a population of more than seven million, behind only Shanghai. The ancient capital of China, Nanjing is a national hub of education, research, transportation, software development, and tourism.

The new NYIT campus is situated near Purple Mountains, which is covered with evergreens and oaks and derives its name from the purple clouds often overhead. Nearby are a dozen research institutes and universities and the first and largest observatory in China.

NYIT’s portfolio of degree and program offerings in Nanjing as well as collaborative research activities will grow in a carefully measured fashion during the next five years. Both the NYIT and NUPT presidents see the launch of this program as the foundation to explore and expand research and collaborations as well as higher education development.

NYIT’s strategic plan for the next quarter century calls for the establishment of a global university based in New York that is respected for its profession-oriented programs, thriving graduate centers, best-in-class work in niche areas, student-centered teaching, and leadership in teaching with technology. NYIT has two main New York campuses, in Manhattan and Old Westbury, where plans are under way for new buildings, labs, a student center, additional faculty and administrative offices, and student dormitories.

NYIT, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2005, offers some of the country’s most competitive academic programs. U.S. News & World Report consistently lists NYIT among its annual list of “America’s Best Colleges-Master’s North,” and its online programs are top-ranked. To date, more than 73,000 people have graduated from NYIT.