The continued growth of the Sino-American 1+2+1 Dual Degree Program was on display in late June when 27 students graduated from Northern Arizona University and 12 Chinese partner universities.
A group of NAU administrators and faculty attended a ceremony at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, China, to honor students who earned degrees in business, biology, civil engineering, hotel and restaurant management, English, geography, international affairs, communication, computer information systems and chemistry.
This year’s graduating class from NAU was up from 10 last year; six students graduated in the first year of the program. Students in the program study for one year at a Chinese university, then two years or as long as it takes to complete the requirements of the major at NAU before returning to their home institution in China for the final year of study.
“It’s gratifying to see that our commitment to the Sino-American program is generating results across such a spectrum of disciplines,” said Liz Grobsmith, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at NAU.
The program, now in its 11th year, was established to accommodate Chinese students wishing to study in the United States who were faced with the challenge of attaining student visas. Approximately 18 American universities along with more than 80 Chinese universities participate in this program; NAU joined in 2004.