News Release
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Joe Hunter, 617/552-0419
Ron Anton, 410/617-5328
Boston College Joins Peking University, 24 Other US Universities In Offering First Recognized US MBA in Beijing
(Chestnut Hill, Mass., April 9, 1998) -- Boston College has joined Peking University in Beijing, China, and 24 other American business schools in creating the Beijing International Management Center, it was announced today by John J. Neuhauser, the dean of Boston College's Carroll School of Management.
This new cooperative educational venture between the US universities and Peking University will offer the first foreign MBA in Beijing to be recognized by the Chinese State Council, the government's highest administrative body. It will be located on the park-like campus of Peking University, China's oldest and most prestigious university.
The MBA will bring an American curriculum and business courses into a Chinese context, combining the best of each tradition. The program will be entirely in English with professors provided equally by Peking University and by the US university consortium.
By pooling the resources of 25 universities, the US consortium will have a combined business faculty of more than one thousand professors holding doctorates in business fields, and access to most of the major markets in the US. The 25 consortium universities are all part of the Jesuit university system, with institutions in most major US cities.
The China Center for Economic Research (CCER) will administer the program for Peking University. Fordham University's Graduate School of Business will grant the official degree for the US consortium, offering an MBA in international management recognized in both countries. In addition to the Fordham degree, the graduates will receive a diploma signed by Peking University and the business deans of all 25 US universities in the consortium.
"We are proud to be part of this ground-breaking initiative," said Dean Neuhauser. "China plays an increasingly important role in the world economy. This effort will create a new generation of Chinese and international business leaders, and is consistent with the Carroll School's objective of producing decision makers prepared to accept the responsibilities of a global society."
During a recent ceremony held in Beijing to officially sign the agreement, Peking University Vice President He Fangchuan called the program "the beginning of serious business education at Peking University," and said that it will develop "world-class managers with a global perspective, who are very important for China's future." Fordham business school Dean Ernest Scalberg, who represented the 25 consortium members at the ceremony, said, "This is a unique opportunity for American and Chinese students and faculty to build bridges while developing international markets."
The Chinese government estimates that its economy needs 300,000 MBAs in order to help privatize state-run companies and enable Chinese industry to better compete globally. This Chinese-American International MBA will accept an initial class of 80 students, half in a part-time program and half in a full-time program.
While the MBA is designed for Chinese students, about 20 percent of the student body are expected to be full-time students from other countries who wish to get an American MBA in China. In addition, MBA students at Boston College and the other consortium institutions will be able to spend a semester of their studies at the Beijing International Management Center if they should so choose.
"We feel this gives Boston College a significant competitive advantage," noted Dean Neuhauser. "Our students can now study alongside of the best and brightest of China, a country which will be a major trading partner and a major market in the 21st century."
Courses will start as early as May 1998. In addition to the four 10-week modules of upper division courses, the students can take summer classes at Boston College or any of the consortium universities, do an internship in the US or China, or participate in a US study-tour.
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