Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-11-09)

◼ BUSINESS Bloomberg Businessweek November 9, 2020

29

YAN

CONG/BLOOMBERG.

*CASES

AS

OF

OCT.

13 FOR

SHANGHAI,

NOV.

3 FOR

NEW

YORK.

DATA:

NYU

businessmodeldoesn’tworkwellinChina,where

thegovernmentis moreprotectionist,saysMichael

Bartlett,a partneratSingapore-basedAlumno,an

internationaleducationconsultant.Instead,hesays,

manyWesternschoolsbenefitfromhavingChinese

affiliates,whichcanhelpthemgainbetterscoresin

globalrankingsandgreateropportunitiesforprofes-

sorsandstudents.“Forsome,it’saboutthereputa-

tion,havinga name,andbeingabletopunchabove

theirweightina keymarket,”Bartlettsays.

ByhostingstudentslikeSunwhocan’tgoabroad,

thosepartnershipsarehelpingforeignschoolshold

ontoa goodchunkofrevenue:Chinesestudents

typicallypayfulltuition,becausetheydon’tusually

qualifyforfinancialaid.Andstudentsbeinghosted

byaffiliatedschoolsinChinadon’thavetoattend

Zoomclassesinthemiddleofthenightbecausetheir

professorsareina timezonehalfa worldaway.In

China,wherethevirusis largelycontained,schools

arehavingin-personclasses.“Myfriendsatother

universitiesarea bitenvious,”saysNYUShanghai

ViceChancellorJeffreyLehman.“Theirstudents

whoareblockedfromenteringaretakingallof

theirclassesremotely,whileourstudentsareable

toavoidthatandfeela senseofcommunity.”

Chinaaccountedforone-thirdofthe1.1million

foreignstudentsintheU.S.inthe2018-19school

year,themostrecentdataavailable,andthose

Chinesestudentsgenerated$14billioninreve-

nueforU.S.collegesanduniversities,saysRahul

Choudaha,directorofresearchattheGraduate

Management Admission Council. Fewer stu-

dentsfromChina,hesays,couldcostU.S.higher

education—alreadyina fundingcrisis—$700million

thisyear.Enrollmentforinternationalundergrads

attendingU.S.collegeshasdropped14%fromlast

fall,accordingtodatafromtheNationalStudent

ClearinghouseResearchCenter.

HavinganaffiliatecampusinChinacanhelp

U.S.schoolsprovidetemporaryhomesforstu-

dentsandretainthethousandsofdollarsinfees

eachonepays.AtDukeKunshanUniversity,a ven-

turenearSuzhoubetweenDukeandWuhanuni-

versities,about 120 studentswhoweresupposedto

beinNorthCarolinaaretakinga mixofin-person

and remote classes. Several dozen University of

Connecticut students unable to travel are studying

at a Chinese campus of the University of Nottingham

in Ningbo, which in normal years is the site of a

study-abroad program for UConn students. A ven-

ture between England’s University of Liverpool and

a Chinese partner has added students at a campus in

Suzhou, too. “China-based schools are increasingly

attractive, because students can be in class without

the threat of infection,” says John Darwin Van Fleet,

directorofcorporateglobalizationatShanghaiJiao

TongUniversity’sbusinessschool.“Thisis a very

goodmomenttobeoperatingthesecampuses.”

KeanUniversityhashadtoclosesomefacil-

itiesatitsUnion,N.J.,campustoaddressa bud-

getshortfallcausedbya Covid-relateddeclinein

enrollmentthisfall.Butthenumberofstudentsis

upatWenzhou-KeanUniversity,itsjointventure

ineasternChina.WKUthissemesteraddedabout

100 studentswho’dplannedtoattendotherforeign

schools,aswellassomeWKUstudentswhowould

havespenttheyearinNewJersey.Keangets9%

oftuitionrevenuegeneratedbytheventure:“Any

revenuecominginwouldbeveryhelpful,”says

PresidentLamontRepollet.

ForNYU,whichlastschoolyearhada budgetof

$3.5billion(notcountingitsbighospitalandmed-

icalschool),theimportanceoftheShanghaicam-

pusisnotwhetherit cangeneratea fewmillion

dollarsofrevenuebutwhetherit canhelpbuildits

globalprofileandcompetefortalentagainstIvy

LeagueschoolssuchasNewYorkrivalColumbia,

whichis muchricher.NYUShanghaisaysit sends

somemoneyto NewYork, reimbursingcosts

incurredwhenNYUhostsexchangestudents,but

is independentfinanciallyanddoesn’tshareprofits

orreceivesubsidieswithitsU.S.co-founder.NYU

hasabouta dozenlocationsworldwide,includ-

ingacademiccentersinAfrica,Australia,Europe,

theMiddleEast,andSouthAmerica,aswellasa

degree-granting campus in Abu Dhabi.

The worldwide outposts help improve the

appeal of NYU back in New York, says Robert

Kelchen, an associate professor of higher educa-

tion at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.

Indeed, even though Chinese students enrolled

at NYU Shanghai get a break on tuition thanks to

government subsidies, the joint venture hasn’t

hurt the flagship’s ability to attract students from

China. NYU had more than 8,700 students from the

People’s Republic in 2018-19, according to data from

the university, up from about 2,100 in 2012.

The latest U.S. institution to expand in China

is New York’s Juilliard School, the renowned arts

institution, which opened a branch in Tianjin in

September. China’s Ministry of Education in March

also approved a partnership between Georgia Tech

and Tianjin University scheduled to open in the

southern Chinese city of Shenzhen next year.

Critics wonder if foreign schools are paying too

high a price for exposure to the Chinese student

pool. China scholar Jerome Cohen, founder and fac-

ulty director emeritus of the U.S.-Asia Law Institute

at NYU’s law school, warned on his blog in January

of the threat to academic freedom on China’s

◀ NYU Shanghai this

year has about 2,800

extra students—mostly

undergrads unable to

travel to New York

▼ NYU Shanghai

Pre-pandemic student

population

1.9k

Covid cases*

2

▼ NYU New York

Pre-pandemic student

population

58k

Covid cases*

452