November 12, 2007 -- Dongbei University of Finance and Economics (DUFE) in Dalian, and University of Surrey announced the official launch of the Surrey International Institute, DUFE (SII, DUFE) on 6 November 2007. This is the school's inaugural year and postgraduate teaching programs began in September. The institute provides students from China and any other country the opportunity to study full-time for a University of Surrey degree or a dual degree offered by both Surrey and DUFE.

"We waited a year and a half for approval," Dayi Dong, marketing development officer at DUFE's School of International Business (DUFE, SIB) told Emerging China. "The University of Surrey needed to show real investment in China, not only a wish to use their name and use us as their recruiting agent. They needed to invest in this program with funds and with teaching staff and researchers."

SII, DUFE is the second project of this kind involving a UK university that has received approval from China's Ministry of Education. (The University of Nottingham was first when they opened a branch campus of their university in Ningbo, a city 100 miles south of Shanghai, in 2004.) SII, DUFE's focus is business and management.

"A lot of Western business schools would love to come in, but the barriers are substantial," John D. Van Fleet told Emerging China. Van Fleet supports clients in the education sector who seek to enhance their business in Asia. He is also senior advisor at Shanghai Jiaotong University. "The Ministry of Education has tightened up a bit on approving Western business schools partnering with local universities. They want to skim the cream and leave the rest of the dairy product in its home market."

To date, Surrey has hosted academic staff from DUFE for an induction program that included use of an electronic library and cultural differences in teaching style.

"Surrey will be supplying international academics to deliver the major part of the Surrey programmes.The programme will also allow students in China to engage with fellow students in the UK either by short visits or via enhanced video-conferencing and e-mail," Ros Allen, a representative of the University of Surrey told Emerging China. Currently, three tutors from Surrey are on staff at SII, DUFE teaching marketing, international business management, and financial management courses.

The University of Surrey's move into China reduces the costs typically associated with obtaining a foreign degree.

"The current scheme allows [Chinese] students to come to the UK at any time during their studies to experience UK culture and life, even if the student only wishes to come for a semester," said Allen.

SII, DUFE's fees –45,000 yuan (US$6,050)- are considerably lower than the £10,700 ($22,260) cost of one year of study for an international student at the University of Surrey. They are, however, almost double the fees of DUFE's regular program (22,000 yuan or $3,000).

SII, DUFE is currently only offering dual programs at the postgraduate level. Of the students who started at Dalian this year, two-thirds have opted to go to the UK for at least one semester.