Public universities are not the only way for students to complete a higher education in the nation's financial centre.

One out of every 10 university students in Shanghai are now pursuing their studies at private universities in this metropolis known as the "breeding ground of China's skills."

A municipal education department official said that Shanghai now has over 1,800 private and non-government funded educational institutions, including 40 private institutes and several hundred colleges providing higher education without diplomas.

Many private universities turn to prestigious local public universities for their higher management staff and faculty, which has not only given these organizations high-level teaching staff, but also made them more attractive to students.

The Shanghai Fuqiu Vocational Studies College, which was approved several weeks ago, is located in the Pudong Lujiazui financial trade zone. Its President Hu Aiben was formerly the assistant to the president of the prestigious Fudan University, and is also a PhD candidate supervisor. All major teachers at Fuqiu are from Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and Shanghai University.

"We have set up 18 majors including computer information management, journalism and hotel management, which are relatively popular majors," said Hu, adding that after three years' study here, if the students pass the exams organized by Fudan and Tongji universities, they will get professional training diplomas.

Hu also disclosed that his college is now applying for certification to offer four-year degrees, while its ultimate goal is to create a personnel training base for "high-level managers and engineers."

Compared with the former models of inviting retired university teachers, putting up posters on trees to attract students, and renting classrooms for teaching activities, most private educational institutions now have a strong private capital base. Some private enterprises invest huge amounts of money in establishing colleges.

Entrepreneurs ploughing money into education today are doing it as an investment, rather than as a donation. Xu Xincai, a Fuqiu shareholder, said: "The education industry has a bright future, although it takes a longer period of time to receive a return on the investment."

The former status of "investment with no repayment" for private education has gradually changed in the educational reform process.

The Law on Private Education Promotion, passed at the end of 2002, stipulated that "private school investors can get a reasonable repayment after deducting schooling costs and reserving development funds and other expenses."

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