BEIJING, Oct. 25 -- Students at Fudan University can apply for free
education at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, starting next year,
university officials announced here yesterday.
The university's newly established McDonnell International Scholars Academy will offer a US$60,000 annual
scholarship to accepted students at 15 Asian universities, including Fudan,
Tokyo University and the University of Seoul.
The money will cover tuition, living expenses and
transportation costs for annual home return. Free extracurricular programs
include corporate internship, leadership training and seminars with experts.
"It's like a free ride to top education at a top
university," said Mark S. Wrighton, chancellor of Washington University.
However, only students nominated by Fudan University
must first be admitted to a graduate or professional degree program at
Washington University - then they can apply for the scholarship.
The first batch of more than 20 scholars will begin
study in the United States in the fall of 2006.
Meanwhile, the Washington University's Olin Business
School yesterday renewed its partnership in the joint Executive Masters of
Business Administration with Fudan's school of management for another five
years.
Since 2002, the Fudan-Olin program has trained three
batches of 182 EMBA graduates, most of whom are senior managers at large
multinational companies.
