NYU Shanghai announces record int’l applications

Source: The PIE News

NYU Shanghai, a joint venture between East China Normal University and New York University, has announced a record 18,713 students applied for admission to the university for autumn 2021, a 12% increase over last year.

NYU Shanghai has seen a record number of applications. Photo: Pixabay

With just 2,246 of those applicants from China, international applicants from countries other than the US increased by a “remarkable” 53%. Students will now have to compete for one of 500 places.

“With its three global campuses and academic centers around the world, NYU was able to respond with lightning speed at the start of the pandemic by shifting students to other campuses or study-away sites, and creating the ‘Go Local’ program,” said Annie Lu, director of admissions at NYU Shanghai.

“I don’t think there is another university anywhere that can match the options we’ve provided to our students.”

“I don’t think there is another university anywhere that can match the options we’ve provided to our students”

However, international students at other Chinese universities have suggested the fact NYU Shanghai has been the sole university whose international students have been permitted to return to China may have played a role in record enrolments.

NYU Shanghai previously told The PIE News students were allowed to return last autumn as part of “a test case for the safe return of international students” but declined to give further details.

They would not comment on whether students’ next intake would also be permitted to enter the country.

Meanwhile, the China International Students Union is continuing its campaign to open the borders to international students. Still, they have found little support from China’s higher education stakeholders, the government, or their universities.

A video posted by the group on sites such as Bilibili has also been met with comments from netizens that they can’t enter the country because they are “trash” and that “China is for the Chinese.”

One exception to the lack of support has been the former US Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank Curtis Chin.

“More international students might question their decision to study in China”

He has called for “greater communication and compassion to students whose lives and education have been disrupted by travel restrictions” and for the Chinese authorities’ approach to “include consistency and equal treatment of all international higher education students.”

“Until that time, more international students might question their decision to study in China, especially as counterparts return to schools elsewhere,” he said.