Peking University, March 3, 2021: Have you ever imagined that being a student at one university can take courses from another academic institution? Peking University and Tsinghua University decided to share academic resources providing students with a wider range of choice of courses.

Early this month, news that Peking University and Tsinghua University will open more undergraduate courses and recognize each other's credits went viral on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform.

According to the announcement, students from the two most prestigious institutions of higher learning in China will be able to choose among more courses to take at both universities and have their credits acknowledged.

During this spring term, Peking University will open 56 undergraduate courses in the core general education curriculum, allocating 396 places to Tsinghua students. Meanwhile, undergraduates of Peking University will have access to 27 courses offered by Tsinghua University, with 299 places available.

Many netizens left excited comments such as, "Megamerger indeed," and "No need to worry about whether to go to Peking University or Tsinghua University any longer."

"However excellent a university is, its teaching resources are limited. Course sharing can give play to the potential of existing teaching resources, and present more choices and possibilities to students," said Fu Suiyan, a professor from Peking University.

This is not the first time that the two institutions have shared their academic resources. In spring 2020, Peking University offered 27 undergraduate courses for Tsinghua students to choose from, while Tsinghua University provided 12 courses to Peking University. The credits were also mutually recognized.

Last year, besides its main humanities and social sciences courses, Peking University also provided some science classes such as Modern Astronomy and Genomics Data Analysis. Tsinghua University offered some humanities courses like studies on Bamboo Slips and Silk Fabrics, while also playing to its strengths in science and engineering.

A poster features the number of courses opened to each other by Peking University and Tsinghua University in 2021

This year, new popular courses made it to the list of shared programs, including Robotics offered by Peking University and Big Data and Machine Intelligence by Tsinghua University.

Each university has its distinct culture and ethos. Students that study in different universities can get more experience and expand their friend circles, which is conducive to their future development, Fu stressed.

Source: China.org.cn

Photo: Li Jinsha, Xu Haolun, VCG

Designer: Pu Hairui