China’s top universities could soon rival Oxford, Cambridge and the Ivy League, the president of Yale University has warned.

Professor Richard Levin, speaking to the Guardian on a trip to the UK, said Chinese institutions would rank in the world’s top 10 universities in 25 years’ time, squeezing out some of the west’s elite campuses.

At the moment, British universities dominate the top 10 rankings, with Cambridge coming second to Harvard, University College London fourth and Oxford and Imperial College London joint fifth. The rest of the top 15 are US universities. China’s highest-ranking institution is Tsinghua, at 49.

But the Chinese government now spends billions of yuan – at least 1.5% of its gross domestic product – on higher education with the aim of propelling its best institutions, such as the universities of Tsinghua and Peking, into the top slots, Levin said.

“In 25 years, only a generation’s time, these universities could rival the Ivy League,” said Levin, the Ivy League’s longest-tenured president. He was speaking before giving a lecture on the rise of Asia’s universities to the Royal Society in London on Monday evening.

Levin said: “China and India … seek to expand the capacity of their systems of higher education … and aspire simultaneously to create a limited number of world-class universities to take their places among the best. This is an audacious agenda, but China, in particular, has the will and resources that make it feasible. It has built the largest higher education sector in the world in merely a decade.”

China has more than doubled the number of its higher education institutions in the last decade from 1,022 to 2,263. More than 5 million Chinese students enrol on degree courses now, compared to 1 million in 1997.

Chinese scholars are increasingly leaving their posts in US and UK universities to return home, Levin said.

The growth of Chinese higher education comes as English university leaders fear they may not be able to maintain their world-class reputation for higher education, with savage government cuts of 950m pounds over the next three years.

Commenting on the cuts, Levin said it would be “a shame if the British government didn’t recognise the status of Oxford and Cambridge as global leaders”.

He pointed out that it had taken centuries for Harvard and Yale to match Oxford and Cambridge. And while China had a large pool of talent to draw on, it was currently seen as less attractive to scholars from across the world than the US and the UK, he said. China’s universities lack “multidisciplinary breadth” and “the cultivation of critical thinking”.

Levin said: “I don’t see the rise of Asia’s universities as threatening. Competition in education is a positive sum game. Increasing the quality of education around the world translates into better informed and more productive citizens.”

中文
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China MBA: Cal Poly State University

MBA留学：Cal Poly

中文:

China MBA Admission Info, Cost Info, and Deadlines

Cal Poly Masters in Industrial Technology

Masters in Industrial Technology Admission Info, Cost Info, and Deadlines

Pound-for-pound we think the Cal Poly MBA is the best in the world….

Created by The Greatest Living American

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Recently, I was able to complete an interview with Thomas Stader, founder of a Chinese charity organization that helps to build libraries. Here are his words about some of the latest work the Library Project has been working on.

Can you tell us a little bit about the Library Project?

The Library Project provides books and libraries to under-financed countryside elementary schools in China.

I founded The Library Project because I found that most countryside elementary schools in China were lacking books that the children could physically read. What I mean by that is, most books in a countryside elementary school were written for university and high school students. They also lack any kind of reading area for the children to curl up with a book. What we do is very simple, we donate colorful, relevant, hi-quallity books to countryside elementary schools, while also ensuring that they have a safe and fun area to read the books in.

I understand that often children’s libraries in China aren’t often stocked with good children’s books and are often cramped or uncomfortable. Can you tell us more about that?

In general, we have found a complete lack of children’s books with PinYin for young learners. A child absolutely needs PinYin to read during grades 1 – 3. So that is our first obstacle that we must overcome. Our second is a complete lack of a comfortable library for the children to gather as a class and read a book. Most schools have a room set aside for a library, but they don’t have the funding to fill the room with furniture.

What we have found is, once we bring books that the children can read, along with tables and chairs for a library, the children love it.

Cool. I understand you’ve made a lot of big developments in the past year, right?

Yes we have. We have provided our first ten libraries, with plans of reaching a goal of over 80 by the end of 2008.

That sounds like a big commitment. Isn’t it costly to build a library?

The cost is quite low. Most libraries will cost between 4,000 and 8,000 RMB. This includes hi-quality Chinese language children’s books, colorful chairs, sturdy tables, globes, plants, posters, and all logistic costs such as trucks.

What all goes into the building of a library? What kind of cost is there in terms of money, time, and other resources?

From beginning to end, it takes about one month. That includes our Pre-Assessment, purchasing of books and furniture, and final delivery of the library. We usually have a group of about 5 – 15 volunteers helping with the final delivery. Once we set up the library, we introduce the children to their new library and play games. It’s a lot of fun for both the children and the volunteers.

I also understand that you cooperate with local charities to create community support and interest for your project. Have you found that local communities and organizations are helpful and willing to be involved?

That is true. We have partnered with the Xi’an Charity Association to provide libraries to the regions of the ShaanXi Province that they are working in. They are a huge help. We also run community based book collections through Aston English of China. They are one of the largest private English language schools in China, with schools in over 40 cities. We hope to hold book drives in each of those cities annually, and then take those Chinese language children’s books and get them into countryside elementary schools. Aston English has made a major commitment to giving back in China.

I understand you recently made a trip to Shanghai and had some exciting opportunities crop up for you there. How exactly did all of that come about?

That is true. The University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business in Shanghai has been absolutely amazing. On November 24th, the Smith School of Business hosted a charity fundraiser in Shanghai that raised enough funds to provide twelve schools with full libraries. They got Black and Decker, Microsoft, Storm Case, Grainger, Grace, Under Armour, The Children’s Place, Jaguar, Avon, and Land Rover, among many others, involved.

The University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business in Shanghai and their China EMBA program have really made a difference in the lives of thousands of children living in the countryside of China.

Where will the funds you raised in Shanghai go and how will they be used?

The funds raised in Shanghai will go toward providing libraries to the Ba Qiao School District in the ShaanXi Province. Each school will receive 500 Chinese language children’s books, and a comfortable child-safe library for the children to use.

To date, what do you think has been your biggest success?

That’s a tough question to answer. There have been so many successes to date. But if I were to pick on success, it would be the creation of our School District Program. This program makes the kind of impact that we all like to see. True impact is hard to make, and I’m confident that providing every countryside elementary school in a single school districts improves the level of education that each and every child receives.

What are the next big plans for the Library Project? How do you see the project growing? How can people in China and abroad help you and support you?

The Library Project has a very clear plan for our future. We will have over 80 libraries provided to countryside elementary schools by the end of 2008. We’ll have over 200 by the end of 2009. We’ll continue that aggressive growth plan until every elementary school in China has children’s books for every child to read.

We have a ton of volunteer opportunities, both in China and abroad. The best place to begin is to check out our website at The Library Project.

All donations are greatly appreciated. Small and large donations really do make a difference. Each book that we provide to schools only cost $1 USD, or 8 Yuan. Adopting a school costs only $1,000 USD. Both of these really do make a huge impact on the lives of literally thousands of children.

The Library Project is the easiest charity on the planet to support: They have a clear purpose, a verifiable track-record, a vision for the future and they ask so little with which they accomplish so much.

Make some space on your blog or website and show that you care by placing a visual link to our friends by going here: LIBRARY PROJECT

Their mission is clear, their dedication extraordinary and their cause a most important one. To support the Library Project is one of the most cost-effective ways you will ever have to make a real difference in a lot of young lives….

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The University of Maryland Smith School of Business Shanghai, China

Recently, during my trip in Shanghai, I had the opportunity to speak with Steven Feld, the Executive Director of Professional Programs and Services at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business at the Maryland Center China in Shanghai. What I found was a man with a conviction to foster the growth of a business school in China that could live up to the growing needs for talented managers and can provide people who have already succeeded at doing business in China a chance to hone their skills to a new level.

I have to admit that the interview’s beginning was little rocky. Because of a delay in my flight, I arrived at the Center, bags still in hand, about an hour and a half later than I’d planned. Fortunately, I was able to sneak into another interview and get a few shots at a question and answer. Dr. Feld was happily answering questions from a Chinese newspaper. I decided to go for the big one.

“So, how are you going to compete with Harvard? How about Duke? What have you got for the big guns?” I ask. Dr. Feld Steve Feld just grins. I know he’s been asked this question a dozen times before, and his response is fitting for a man who left Wharton to manage a program sitting on the fence between great and unbeatable.

“It’s all about service,” he said. “If you come to the University of Maryland’s EMBA program here, you get the same quality and the same teachers you’d get as if you were in the US. We don’t water down our program for China.”

And with that, I smiled, reached for my notebook, and realized I’d left it in the cab. Red-faced, I grabbed a sheet of paper from my bag and began writing furiously as Dr. Feld talked about this EMBA in China.

He also pointed out the way in which the program had been made administratively simple. “Our students have an average of 15 years of experience,” Dr. Feld pointed out, “and they are juggling families, running their companies, and completing 54 credit hours of school in 18 months. So we need to help them by making the administrative process of this course–buying books, registering for courses, receiving grades–as simple as possible.”

There were several key points that stood out as Dr. Feld talked. One was his sense of commitment: from everything he said, I could tell that the Smith School is not some kind of attempt to offer a mediocre program to a China hungry for, but an administratively simple program designed to produce the same quality of education that has given the University of Maryland its distinctive international reputation. A key point of the program is that the same professors who teach at the University of Maryland deliver the lectures and do the teaching just as they do in the US. Dr. Feld also stressed the three core competencies of the program: globalization, techonology, and innovation and entrepreneurship, which he believes will be core principles rising entrepreneurs and businesspeople need to master in the coming years of business.

Smith has some impressive ranking as well. Though it’s name is just beginning to come to China, it’s international reputation (ranked #17 in the world and #5 for its research department) is long-standing. One of the most interesting points of discussion I had with Dr. Feld was about the school’s impressive research rank. Can a school with a rank like that deliver good quality teaching, I wondered? Or would the faculty at the U of Maryland feel so much pressure to perform in research that they would neglect their teaching duties? Dr. Feld, as always, gave a delightful response. “Well, we have two ways to respond to that. First, we have research centers designed to disseminate the information from our researchers to the public and to interested parties. Second, we have a really smart dean who created a staff of teaching professors who aren’t obligated to do research. And what this has done is increase the standard of teaching at the University of Maryland, so that both the teaching staff and the research staff frequently get rated highly for their teaching.”

There is a saying China (isn’t there always?): “麻雀虽小, 五脏俱全.” Though the sparrow is small, it has all the vital organs. And though Maryland is by no means a small school in any sense of the word–its reputation and abilities place it among the best in the world–its name is only beginning to gain weight and force in China. Despite this, the programs the University of Maryland offers in China–its EMBA as well as its professional development courses–are designed with care and clever precision to deliver high-quality instruction to China’s business leaders.

A final update: interested readers can check out the Smith Business Intelligence site, a great source of useful information about the latest business information in China.

中文

This past weekend I traveled to Shanghai in order to attend the 2007 China Education Expo, an annual traveling expo showcasing international study abroad opportunities for Chinese students. While there, I also had the chance to catch up with several bloggers, speak with Steve Feld, the Executive Director the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business, and spend some time with Christine Lu of the China Business Network. I have to admit that serendipity seemed to follow me as I met up with a number of people, from a helpful and friendly group of Casablancan businessmen on the plane to the Chinese watch salesman that helped me find an Internet Bar when I needed it most.

This week I’ll be writing stories about my adventures and some of the fantastic dreamers I met in my few short days in Shanghai. Photos and maps will follow. Unfortunately, my camera battery died a quick, painless death on this trip, but others have been generous enough to donate their own photos.

Photo courtesy of Ken Yip.

PS–My regrets to missing Chris Carr of Cal Poly MBA Trip’s latest visit. He was in Beijing and I was not able to meet up with him to hear about the latest on his MBA program in California.

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China MBA: Cal Poly State University

MBA留学：Cal Poly

One of the dreams of many Chinese and International students is to study abroad. Part of the mission of the Dreamblogue is to help individuals realize their dreams through information and financial support when and where we can offer it. This is the first in a series of posts that will spotlight schools we believe to be the best in China, America, Canada, the UK and Australia for overseas learning.

Top boxers are always being sized up against others outside of their weight class and are referred to by sports pundits as, “pound-for-pound” the best puncher, or overall fighter in the game. The same metaphor can easily be applied to International MBA Programs and especially those with China as their primary focus.

Long before Cal Poly became partners with the Dreamblogue Dawei had a chance to interact with students and faculty from the Orfalea College of Business: the best pound-for-pound International MBA program based in America. Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, California via The Orfalea College of Business offers a 1-year program for qualified students from China and the world: The MBA program with a focus on international business in China, concludes with a 1-month tour of Chinese culture and business. Prospective graduates visit small and medium-sized”expatraneurs” and China manufacturers, educational institutions, and world renowned multi-nationals like Walmart, Lenovo, and The Sands/Venetian. This year they climbed the Great Wall, toured the water village of Zhouzhung, and visited the UNESCO sites in the former Portuguese colony of Macau.

The Dreamblogue Team and Cal Poly at Zhongkai University below. Visit their CAL POLY MBA blog for more:

And the entire Cal Poly MBA program, located in one of the safest and most scenic areas of California, costs less in total than does a semester at a school with more recognizable branding. For now, Cal Poly is a well-kept secret, but that is not likely to last long as their leadership continues to innovate with a world-class faculty and curriculum.

You can download information in Chinese or English about Cal Poly’s programs here, as well as information about how to prepare and study for admission:

• Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and the Orfalea College of Business
• Cal Poly China MBA Program
• Cal Poly MBA Admission Information, Cost Information and Deadlines
• GMAT Study Help

In addition to their MBA program the Orfalea College of Business also offers a Masters degree in Industrial Technology. This MS in IT program reflects the current realities in the global manufacturing sector. That is — rapidly changing partnerships and outsourcing relationships, a premium for those companies that can manage them well, and a need for entry level managers who can jump into the fray of value chain management. Integral to this environment and need is technical competence in the areas of packaging and logistics. All of these elements are key components in their MS in IT program. It is also the case that the environment of global outsourcing has created huge new opportunities for entrepreneurial ventures in technology areas. Since virtually everything can be outsourced, there are relatively fewer obstacles to building new technology ventures – or entrepreneurial ventures within larger companies. That said, a third important component of the MS in IT program is focused on technology entrepreneurship, a logical companion to value chain management and packaging.

• Cal Poly Masters in Industrial Technology
• Masters in Industrial Technology Admission Information, Cost Information and Deadlines

Pound-for-pound we think these Cal Poly Orfalea College of Business graduate programs are the best in the world….

To speak to us about any of our sponsors or just to chat you must first allow pop-ups from Geesse.com where we host 24/7 Live Help. Please share your dreams with us…

Blog your dream below:

Recently, I spoke with Coffee, a former student of Liu Yanzhi, about the scholarship she received and about the dreams she wants to achieve. As some of you know, Coffee is a university student in Guangzhou and lost her leg last year to cancer. Though she spent months out of school, she studied over summer to make sure she graduated on time, and has now received a $20,000 USD scholarship to study French and learn to how to become a UN translator. I wanted to share this conversation I had with Coffee.

Dawei: Tell us a little bit about the scholarship you received to study translation.

Coffee: Yeah，I should say‘ thank you’ to my French teacher, he is so kind. He has high expectation on us and so he is strict with us in class, but he is easy-going after classes. I know what it means the moment he decides to grant me this opportunity. I will not let him down. Of course I will grab this opportunity to improve my French proficiency.

Dawei: Will you tell us about your dreams for yourself and why you wanted to study translation?

Coffee: I am always ambitious, I want to learn more about the languages and the cultures about the world, and I want to be a bridge between China and other countries in the world, to be a translator. I am fond of French; Luckily, I got this chance, thanks to the kindness of one of my former teachers at my school. I am now taking French as a second foreign language, and I will keep improving it.

Dawei: What are your dreams for your family and community?

Coffee: Yeah, I’ve been dreaming of changing the condition of my family for a long time. Dad and Mum are now getting old, and they have been swinking all their lives, it’s high time I did something for them, I want to make their lives better, and enjoy their lives in their old ages. I am now living in a small village, it’s far away from Guangzhou, most of my peers receive a secondary school education, and then pour into the job world. I am the only one to get a college education in my village. I hope I can change all this, and to make more children get access to higher education.

Dawei: Dreams are often held back by fears. What is your biggest fear about your dreams, and how have you overcome it?

Coffee: I always tell myself not to put all the eggs in one basket. I am always trying different ways to do things better, to be frank，when striking for my dreams, I am not fear of anything. I have confidence on myself. And I wish I could get a job as a translator, that’s the first step of fulfilling my dreams.

Dawei: What do you encourage others to do in order to achieve their dreams?

Coffee: I want to do my best and to be excellent and to show people life is to be conquered however hard it is. As long as you have a will, nothing is difficult. It is important keeping optimistic while facing difficulties.

Dawei: What do you hope to do with your scholarship and after you complete your training?

Coffee: I will keep on learning , as the saying goes : It’s never to late to learn. It does not mean my French proficiency is good enough after attending the training, there are lots of things I need to learn about. I hope I can learn more during my work. And I know clearly that to be a good translator, I should keep renewing my knowledge.

Keep Dreaming:

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For those of you dreaming of going to America to study: We have posted pdf files of the guides in English and in Chinese (see the sidebar for Chinese)…

Study in the US part 1

This is a guide to undergraduate study and educational opportunities in the US. You can find Arabic, French, Spanish, and Russian versions of the text here: Undergrad Study in the US.

Study in the US part 2

This guide explains the process of applying for and preparing for graduate study in the US. It includes information about admission, types of institutions, degrees, course loads, and grading systems. It will also discuss the different academic culture in the US and the US academic environment. It also covers specialized programs of study in the US: US nursing school, American law schools, US veterinary medicine, and American dentistry. You can find versions of the text in Arabic, French, Spanish, and Russian Study in America: US graduate degrees.

Study in the US Part 3

This guide provides thorough descriptions of short-term study options in the US, such as: high school exchange programs, work and professional exchange programs, vocational and technical programs, short-term university study, and professional study. You can find versions of the text in Arabic, French, Spanish, and Russian here: Study in US: Short-term US study.

Study in the US part 4

This guide provides important details on preparing for study in the US, such as obtaining a visa, predeparture information, housing in the us, and travel to the us. You can find versions of the text in Arabic and Russian here: Study in the US: US Visas, Travel to the US, living in the US..

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