For the first time in Cornell University history, Chinese high school students will spend six weeks earning credit at the university's Summer College program, according to a press release Xinhua obtained Monday.

Seven students, all from High School Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University, are commencing the pilot of the China-Cornell College Preparatory Program. The program is intended to give Chinese students an opportunity to take courses, earn credits, explore majors and experience life at an American university.

In their letter dated last February to Xie Shengwu, president of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Cornell President Hunter Rawlings and Glenn Altschuler, dean of Cornell's School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions, proposed to deepen the relationship between the two universities by launching a college preparatory program. Twenty Chinese high school students applied in a competitive selection process.

"This is all part of our ongoing effort to work with educational institutions in China and to do what we do best: provide opportunity for students," said Altschuler.

"In the 21st century, education is becoming more transnational, and we are promoting an understanding between people from different societies. We hope that more and more students from China will attend the Cornell Summer College," he said.

The Cornell Summer College program, now in its 44th year, invites talented high school sophomores, juniors and seniors to live and study on Cornell campus for up to six weeks each summer.

Students experience college life, explore a wide variety of academic majors, make life-long friends and prepare for the future. This year the program enrolls 815 high school students from 38 states and 29 countries.

Source: Xinhua