Over 100 International Students Allowed to Return to Their Chinese University

A group of international students enrolled at Duke Kunshan University (DKU) who remained in their home countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic have finally been allowed to return to China and resume studies at the university.

In an email obtained by The Chronicle, the associate vice chancellor for undergraduate studies at DKU Marcia France, informed students that they have been formally authorized to return to China.

Authorized students have until June 10 to decide whether they want to accept the offer to return to China. If the latter decide to return, they would have to cancel existing plans to study abroad in Durham or Barcelona for the fall, according to the email. Nevertheless, the university said that it would not ask any student to withdraw from any study programs in Durham or Barcelona. 

DKU’s senior director of strategic marketing and public relations, Lydia Jin, said that more than 100 students were authorized to return in the first group.

Jin told The Chronicle that students have previously expressed willingness to return to the university and adhere to all testing and quarantine requirements.

Students allowed to return come from the following countries:

• The United States
• Ethiopia
• France
• Malaysia
• Bangladesh
• Thailand
• Pakistan
• Russia
• Singapore

According to the email, students must travel on a direct flight from their home country, and upon arrival, they should self-isolate, starting with two weeks of centralized quarantine and 11 days in Kunshan or Suzhou.

Duke Kunshan University is a renowned university located in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, China, offering various high-quality, innovative academic programs to students coming from different countries of the world.

The university was established by Duke University in the United States and Wuhan University in China. In 2013, the Chinese Ministry of Education officially gave approval to the institution.

Earlier this year, Global Admissions, a website that supports students in their study decision process, stressed that China was the only country to keep its borders closed to most international students, except for some groups.

“Students are not allowed to enter China. There are some exceptions for students from South Korea, and those studying at New York University Shanghai, Tianjin Juilliard, some Schwarzman Scholarship students,30 Nicaraguan scholarship holders,” the website noted.

Last month, Chinese authorities announced that some Indian students who could not return to China for more than two years would soon receive permission to enter and continue their studies at their Chinese universities.

The Chinese Ministry of Education pointed out in April 2019 that a total of 492,185 international students were enrolled at more than 1,004 higher education institutions in China during 2018.