Florida International University ends partnership with Chinese institutions
Florida International University ended its partnership with several insitutions of higher education in China, following intense scruitny from state education officials.
Florida International University ended its partnership with several institutions of higher education in China, following intense scrutiny from state education officials.
According to Inside Higher Ed, FIU terminated nine joint programs with Chinese institutions, including a dual-degree Spanish program with Qingdao University, a dual-degree hospitality program with the Tianjin University of Commerce, and engineering exchange programs with seven institutions in China.
During a Board of Governors meeting in June 2023, graduate school dean Andrew Gil was questioned about the $3.2 million in funding that the university received from China during the 2021-2022 academic year.
Gil said that the funding was related to educational programs that are run in China, adding that the university was “working on terminating those programs.”
In a statement to the outlet, a spokeswoman for the Miami, Florida university said that increased state regulations on foreign funding and changes to regulations for some programs were to blame for the termination of partnerships with Chinese institutions.
“In the spring of 2023, the Florida Board of Governors revised its Self-Supporting and Market Tuition Programs regulation, which precipitated the closing of the FIU hospitality program in China, as well as two other smaller programs,” said Santana. “It is important to note that given the foreign countries of concern law, which we anticipated would go into effect by the end of 2023, we also would have been required to revisit the programs.”
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The law that the spokesperson referenced, which is in effect, requires public colleges and universities in the state to report funding over $50,000 from “foreign countries of concern,” such as “China, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Cuba, the Venezuelan regime of Nicolás Maduro, or the Syrian Arab Republic.”
