Students vie for leadership spots

Applications for a scholarship program at Tsinghua University aimed at "future global leaders" have surpassed all expectations, prompting organizers to consider increasing the number of places available.

Stephen A. Schwarzman, an American fancier who co-founded Blackstone Group, a global investment company, jointly established the Schwarzman scholarship program with Tsinghua on April 21, 2013.

The one-year program, which will accept its first students next year, is designed to "educate the next generation of global leaders", by deepening mutual trust and understanding between China and the West. Both President Xi Jinping and President Barack Obama sent letters of congratulations for the announcement ceremony.

The deadline to apply for one of the 100 places available is Oct 1. Yet already the school has received applications more than expected.

"We'd only hoped for 5,000 applications," said Pan Qing-zhong, executive dean of the scholarship program, adding that the current acceptance rate would be roughly 1 percent. "That's even more competitive than the undergraduate enrollment rate at Harvard or Stanford, which is more than four in every 100."

The program had intended to recruit 100 students - 45 percent from the US, 20 percent from China and the rest from around the world.

"Based on the present situation, it's very likely we'll increase the final number of students who can be enrolled," Pan said.

He said the yearlong course would focus on three categories - public policy, economics and business, and international studies, which were identified as crucial areas of knowledge for future leaders after discussions at several academic advisory council meetings.

The initial funding for the program was about $400 million, a quarter of which was donated by Schwarzman while the rest has come from public and corporate fundraising. Students will be housed at Schwarzman College, which was designed by Robert A. M. Stern, dean of the Yale School of Architecture, and is located on the Tsinghua campus.

Over the past 12 months, Pan and his colleagues have held recruitment drives at colleges around the world.

"We found that most American students cared about career placement after the program," he said. "Some also asked about living conditions, as they were concerned that university dormitories in the US and China are very different."

Interviews with program candidates will start in November and the first students will arrive at Tsinghua in July next year.

zhangyue@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/23/2015 page25)