By Peter Schworm The Boston Globe

Published: April 1, 2008

BOSTON: In a milestone accord, the University of Massachusetts has struck an agreement with Chinese officials to become the first foreign university to offer government-sanctioned online classes in China.

The agreement announced Monday gives the university an exclusive window to offer the classes for the next five years.

Officials said the new program eventually could serve 5,000 students a year, generating up to $5 million a year for the university.

The agreement with China's Continuing Education Association and Cernet Education, a distance-learning company, would provide the University of Massachusetts's highly regarded distance classes and degree programs to students at Tsinghua University in Beijing. The University of Massachusetts plans to offer 40 online courses, four certificate programs, and one master's degree program within a year.

Students would pay for the programs, which would be administered through Tsinghua.
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The university said Chinese officials have pledged not to restrict the course content. China's government controls Internet access and censors Web sites deemed to be subversive.

Jack Wilson, president of the University of Massachusetts, said the agreement was the result of extensive discussions and educational exchanges over the past two years between the university and Chinese officials.

"They haven't been receptive in the past to other institutions coming in, so this is very exciting," Wilson said.

Wilson said he hoped the distance-education program would lead to further collaboration and exchange programs between the two universities.

The agreement must be approved by China's Ministry of Education, which currently does not recognize credits from foreign universities. But the Chinese partners that signed the agreement are closely affiliated with the government, and the University of Massachusetts officials are confident of final approval by this fall.

UMassOnline, the university's online arm, is one of the largest accredited distance-learning programs, offering 1,500 courses to about 33,000 students.

Yan Jichang, vice chairman and general secretary of the Continuing Education Association, said the partnership is crucial to "the future of China's place in the league of nations."

Baifeng Sun, associate director at the Confucius Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, said the program holds great promise for Chinese education and improved relations between the two countries. "This will widen the bridge between the two countries," she said. "This will help students get more information and learn."