Graduates ofFinance major and Accounting major under the cooperative education program between Xiamen University (XMU) and Dublin Business School (a part of Kaplan, Inc.) presented an outstanding records again this year: as of June 20, among 113 graduates, 73 will pursue their postgraduate study in world-renowned universities at home and abroad (65 in overseas universities and 8 in domestic elite universities) and another 27 has signed employment agreements, showing that graduates of cooperative education program enjoy great popularity globally.

In terms of quality of further study, among 65 students who will go abroad to continue their education, 59 students, i.e. 90.7% are admitted by universities ranking among Top 100 in QS University Rankings, hitting a new record compared to that of last year, which stood at 70%.

Besides, 6 students were admitted by domestic universities based on recommendation, 2 to Fudan University, 2 to SouthwesternUniversity of Finance and Economics, 1 to Central University of Finance and Economics and 1 to Hunan University. Another two were admitted by Renmin University of China and China University of Political science and Law respectively via national exams.

In terms of employment, 27 graduates with employment agreements can be classified into three categories: 1) international accounting firms such as Deloitte and Ernst & Young; 2) state-owned banks or financial institutions such as BOC, CCB and ICBC; 3) large-scale SOEs and enterprise and public institution.

Such an outstanding achievement shall be attributed to XMU’s philosophy and practice of “stepping into the world”. It is more than exchange of students among colleges and universities at home and abroad, but more importantly, the development of internationalized talents. This cooperative education program is the first and only talent development program that makes into the national admission plan (first batch of undergraduate degree admission), which is taught and managed by International College. IC is also operating XMU’s pre-departure training center for overseas study, which was founded under the approval of Ministry of Education and is the only legal center of such kind in all the five provincesin Southeast China. Each year, over 300 IC students go to study abroad. As of June 2016, the total number of IC students studying overseas is over 2700. Therefore, in terms of qualification, numbers and percentage of students going abroad, and ranks of the universities they get admitted into, IC is a leading playernot only in XMU, but also among its kind nationally.

IC also ranks No. 1 in several aspects among all the colleges of XMU: the highest rate of graduates being admitted into universities ranking among Top 100 in QS University Rankings for postgraduate study (90.7% in 2016), the highest percentage of courses delivered by professors from foreign partner colleges (over 50% for each major), having the most foreign partner colleges (65) and achieving high IELTS scores.

▲国际学院近期学生雅思成绩统计：

XMU’s Sino-foreign cooperative education program was approved by the Ministry of Education in 2010. As an exemplified case of the successful cooperation with the world’s largest education groupKaplan, Inc., this program plays an important role in the process of building XMU into a world-class university by introducing quality education resources, matching curriculum setting, and improving teaching material and methods as well as education level. It passed the assessment by the Ministry of Education in 2015, with Accounting and Finance majors enjoying the highest scores, and was permitted to continue in 2016.

It is proved that Sino-foreign cooperative education is a strategic initiative to fulfill XMU’s goal of building a world-class university. And as an important player in XMU’s internationalized education, IC is dedicated to creating a platform to develop students into elites, enabling them to make a difference in this changing world.