The University of Michigan-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute (UM-SJTU JI, JI hereafter) has been selected as one of the outstanding examples of Sino-foreign cooperative education institutions for 2024. This accolade was announced at the third chair unit meeting of the Sino-Foreign Cooperative Education Joint Conference, a national platform sponsored by the Ministry of Education, held in Shanghai recently.

The announcement of the 2024 list of outstanding examples of Sino-foreign cooperative education institutions marks a significant milestone as it is the first time that such institutions have undergone social evaluation with results publicly released. This pioneering effort aims to provide a comprehensive and objective reference for understanding the landscape of Sino-Foreign cooperative education, potentially driving these institutions toward higher levels and deeper collaborations, according to organizers.

JI was founded in 2006, following a strategic partnership between the University of Michigan in the United States and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China. For over a decade, these two elite universities have sustained JI’s growth as a world-class educational and research institute in China dedicated to developing future innovators with a global vision. JI students and faculty uphold the four principles of Internationalization, Interdisciplinarity, Innovation, and Quality (I3Q). This distinctive model of engineering education has earned JI prestigious awards, including the “Model of Chinese Higher Education Reform” from the Chinese State Council, the first prize of National Teaching Achievement Award from China’s Ministry of Education and the “Andrew Heiskell Award for Innovation in Higher Education” from the New York-based Institute for International Education.