Recently, the Ministry of Education announced the qualified Sino-foreign cooperative education institutions. The Frostburg Institute of Carbon Economy and Data Science, Hubei University of Economics, which is jointly established by our university and Frostburg State University of the United States, is among them.
The institute's first batch of undergraduate programs include Resource and Environmental Economics, Data Science and Big Data Technology, which are included in the national ordinary higher education institution enrollment plan with a 4+0 dual-degree training model. Students who meet the admission requirements of both universities can register for the student status of both universities at the same time. Students who meet the graduation requirements of both universities can obtain the academic certificates and degree certificates of Hubei University of Economics and Frostburg State University at the same time.
Frostburg State University was founded in 1898 and is a historic comprehensive public university located in Frostburg, western Maryland, USA. In the 2022 Washington Monthly college rankings, it ranked first among public universities in Maryland and 28th among Master's-level universities in the United States. The university is an important scientific research center in Maryland and, in collaboration with the Maryland state government, established the only national environmental science research center in the state, focusing on researching the impacts of ecological changes, climate change, and the energy revolution on the economy, society, and environment.
The Party Committee and the administrative department of our university attach great importance to the application work for Sino-foreign cooperative education institutions. Under the leading organization of the International Exchange and Cooperation Office, the International Education College, the College of Low-carbon Economy, the College of Statistics and Mathematics, the Academic Affairs Office and the Finance Office actively participated and worked in unity and collaboration. Eventually, the application was successfully approved. The approval of this institute marks a major breakthrough for our university in the field of international education and is of milestone significance. It not only realizes the zero breakthrough of our university in the field of Sino-foreign cooperative education institutions, but also will help our university set a benchmark and create a demonstration project in the educational exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States.
In the future, the institute will fully leverage the high-quality educational resources of both Chinese and American universities, as well as the characteristics and advantages of its specialties in resource and environmental economics, data science and big data technology. It aims to build an innovation highland integrating talent cultivation, scientific research and social services, providing policy support and talent guarantee for achieving the national dual carbon goals, promoting the green rise of Hubei Province, and assisting Hubei in building a national big data innovation core area and an influential industrial cluster. It will focus on cultivating high-end talents with great country wisdom, international vision and global responsibility in the dual carbon field and big data technology application.