INDIANAPOLIS—The Office of International Affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis is leveraging Indiana’s strong connections with a region just south of Shanghai, China, to increase the number of Chinese students enrolling at IUPUI.
Zhejiang Province is a sister state to Indiana, a relationship held for more than 25 years, and Indianapolis is a sister city to Hangzhou, Zhejiang’s capital. Hangzhou is the fourth largest metropolitan area in China with over 21 million people.
The University Preparatory Program for high school students in Zhejiang will prepare a cohort of students to enroll at IUPUI, through collaboration with the International Exchange Center, Zhejiang Foreign Services Corp., an entity funded and run by the Zhejiang provincial government to promote exchange and programs in foreign affairs, education and culture.
Under the umbrella of the Zhejiang-Indiana sister-state exchange, the program aims to enroll an annual class of 35 recent high school graduates from Zhejiang Province as freshmen at IUPUI. Student may apply for fall 2015, and the first full class would be enrolled at IUPUI in fall 2016.
An IUPUI delegation joined up with representatives of the Zhejiang Foreign Affairs Ministry and members of the Indianapolis-Hangzhou Sister City Committee attending the Oct. 15 to 18 Hangzhou International Sister City Mayor’s Conference to celebrate the formal program launch.
“This program will continue to strengthen IUPUI’s strong relationships to Zhejiang and increase enrollment from the region,” said vice chancellor for external affairs Amy Warner, who led the IUPUI delegation. “It’s another example of our growing global engagement that enriches our city, our state and beyond.”
Josh Zhang, general manager for the International Exchange Center, Zhejiang Foreign Services Corp., said, “The IEC will provide the students with necessary assistance on intensive English and cultural training to help them fully prepare for academic and social success at IUPUI. We are confident that this meaningful program will be a highlight of the Indiana-Zhejiang sister-state exchange.”
The University Preparatory Program will target Grades 9 through 12 to form four freshman classes aiming for enrollment from fall 2015 through 2018. IUPUI representatives will annually travel to Zhejiang to present lectures and share information with each class of incoming students.
More than 400 students from China enrolled at IUPUI in fall 2014, the second largest sending country after India. Thirty of those students are from Zhejiang at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Increasing the number of students from China is a part of IUPUI’s overall enrollment growth strategy of increasing international student enrollment to 8 percent of the total student population by 2020.
For further program information, contact Jan Aycock, director of international admissions at IUPUI, at tjaycock@iupui.edu.
