The undergraduate program of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Michigan-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute (UM-SJTU JI, JI hereafter) has been recognized as a national first-class, according to a recently-released list of national-level and provincial-level first-class undergraduate majors in 2021 by China’s Ministry of Education.
According to the 2021 list, a total of 3,730 national first-class undergraduate majors and 5069 provincial first-class undergraduate majors from over 100 universities or colleges were recognized as part of the Double Ten Thousand Plan launched by the Ministry of Education in 2019, aiming at fostering about 10,000 national first-class undergraduate majors and 10,000 provincial first-class undergraduate majors by 2021. JI’s two other undergraduate programs including Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering received recognition as national first-class majors in 2019.
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. JI students and faculty uphold the four principles of Internationalization, Interdisciplinarity, Innovation, and Quality. This distinctive model of engineering education has earned JI prestigious awards, including the “Model of Chinese Higher Education Reform” from the Chinese State Council and the “Andrew Heiskell Award for Innovation in Higher Education” from the Institute for International Education. At present, JI offers three majors to undergraduate students and eight research disciplines to graduate students. Two of its undergraduate majors, Mechanical Engineering and Electrical & Computer Engineering, have also achieved ABET accreditation.
