Yale’s Peabody Museum
Even this far in the Pacific, we Singaporeans are acquainted with the term “Ivy League.”How could we not? When day in and day out we are bombarded with Hollywood films glorifying the ultimate yardstick in which American academic excellence is measured by.
Ivy League is the name generally applied to eight universities (Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale) that over the years have had common interests in scholarship as well as in athletics. Thousands of students all over the world dream of being accepted into an Ivy League or a similarly elite institution, which many consider to be the pinnacle of collegiate education.
But the difference between them and us is that now, an Ivy League school is coming down to our shores. That school is Yale, to be exact.
A Singaporean Ivy League
Yale officials have confirmed that they would partner with the National University of Singapore to create a new institution called Yale-NUS College, with plans to hire 100 professors to teach about 1,000 undergraduates.
Last September, the two institutions had signed a nonbinding agreement to explore the possibility of such a partnership. But as of Thursday, they have officially entered into a formal, long-term commitment.
Classes are slated to begin in the fall of 2013 at its main campus in Kent Ridge, Singapore.
At least half of the Yale-NUS College’s projected student body will be comprised of students from Singapore, with the rest coming from elsewhere in Asia and other parts of the world. While Yale already has dozens of international programs around the world, which primarily function as study-abroad programs for its U.S.-based students, this is the first time it has joined forces, and lent its name, to another degree-granting institution.
“This will be the first fully-fledged liberal arts college of the American type in Singapore — and the first one in Asia,” Yale President Richard Levin said.
First of its kind
While Yale will offer the National University of Singapore its first broad undergraduate liberal arts curriculum, it will not be the first NUS program with involvement by American schools. The National University of Singapore already pairs with several American institutions , including Duke University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to provide graduate-level coursework.
Career and pre-professional majors are common throughout much of Asia in areas like business or accounting, but soon, student life for some undergraduates in Singapore might come to resemble the American college experience. From small group seminars and dormitory life to extracurricular activities and other student groups, Yale’s Levin outlined the development of a new curriculum that he said would combine eastern and western cultures whenever possible.
But despite its emphasis on small-group learning and critical thinking, the school’s diplomas will be conferred by the National University of Singapore, not by Yale.
A future ivy-leaguer for you?
In more ways than one, this is great news for us Singaporeans. Every parent dream of the best for their children, and now with Yale-NUS on our doorstep – financially this dream is achievable.
We just need to give our kids that extra boost to become accepted into an Ivy League, specifically Yale-NUS…and if you are still interested, we have just the tips for you – tomorrow.
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Story taken from: huffingtonpost.com