BOSTON – The University of Massachusetts says a tentative agreement, pending approval by the Chinese Ministry of Education, would make UMass the first foreign university to offer online education courses and degrees in China.
Under the agreement, officials from UMass, China’s Continuing Education Association and Cernet Education Corporation (CerEdu) would work together to make UMassOnline available to students throughout China for credit and non-credit courses, certificate programs and degree programs from all five UMass campuses.
“This joint venture will position UMassOnline to receive the Ministry’s approval to provide online education and grant degrees throughout China,” David Gray, CEO of UMassOnline, said in a statement yesterday. “With a population nearing 1.3 billion, the opportunity in China is enormous, and we look forward to collaborating with both the CCEA and CerEdu to develop online learning programs of the highest quality.”
The agreement stems from a 2006 Memorandum of Understanding between UMass and China’s Tsinghua University, creating an academic and research partnership between UMass and Tsinghua.
Both CerEdu and the CCEA are affiliated with Tsinghua. The university also has a close relationship with the Ministry of Education, which has final approval over distance-learning programs. So far, only 68 universities within China have been authorized to deliver online programs. The Ministry currently does not recognize any distance-learning credits from foreign-based institutions.
“The combination of our powerful distance-learning platform with UMassOnline’s Vista learning management system creates a ‘best of both worlds’ offering – in terms of technology and course quality – for recruiting, teaching and empowering students throughout the many regions of China and achieving the best possible outcomes,” Zhu Yidong, vice chairman of CerEdu, said in a statement.
“Within five years, with Ministry approval protocol and UMass exclusive rights still in place,” he said, “the parties to this agreement, in my opinion, will have gradually offered online courses of such high quality and breadth that we will have clearly demonstrated the efficacy of online instruction and will have paved the way for other foreign universities to enter the China market.”
The new agreement could make another 40 courses, four certificate programs and one master’s degree program available in China within a year, according to UMass officials.
“We are very proud to have been chosen by our partners in China to enter into this agreement,” said UMass President Jack M. Wilson. “We have developed one of the best online education programs in the world – and that is increasingly being recognized around the globe.”
“UMass has forged extensive ties with partners in China – a nation that has emerged as an economic and scientific superpower – and those academic and research connections will pay many dividends for our students and for the citizens of the Commonwealth in the years to come,” Wilson said.
For additional information about the University of Massachusetts and its programs, visit www.massachusetts.edu.
