Drury agreement may bring more Chinese students to Springfield

Drury University signed an agreement that may bring more Chinese students to Springfield.

President David Manuel said the university's partnership with the private Barstow School in Kansas City, which has international ties, will help strengthen both schools' commitment to "engaged global learning."

Currently, 12 percent of Drury's 1,454 traditional undergraduate students are from 51 other countries. Nearly one-fourth have an ethnic origin other than white.

Barstow is an independent, college preparatory school founded in 1884 with affiliate schools in China, Japan, Germany and Australia.

Manuel said students in the affiliate schools overseas take the Barstow curriculum with expectation that, upon graduation, "they will come to the states to earn undergraduate degrees."

"That will enable them to basically have Drury as a preferred partner for their international students who are in China," he said. "We are going to contribute to some of their ... learning opportunities for students — both in Kansas City and also students in China."

The agreement will streamline admission of Barstow graduates into Drury. In recent years, a growing number of Barstow graduates have enrolled at Drury.

"They love our output, frankly, they are very much into the same kind of mission Drury is but at a secondary level," Manuel said. "We see a really strong partnership there."

Drury sought the partnership as a way to deepen its commitment to diversity and international enrollment while also attracting top students.

"For us, it opens a window, a door into a market this will be sort of pre-paved," Manuel said.

The partnership, signed last week, includes:

•Granting admission to Barstow graduates — from Kansas City or the international campuses — who meet GPA, English proficiency and other requirements.

•Establishing a scholarship for international Barstow students who meet admission criteria. Annual amounts will range from $1,000 to $3,000.

•Drury faculty will travel to Barstow's Shanghai and Ningbo campuses in China to offer instruction in subjects, such as creative writing, that are rarely taught in China. Faculty will be chosen to serve a "professors in residence" on each campus during the January intersessions.

•The schools will work together to create summer immersion experiences for Barstow students on the Drury campus in Springfield. The stay will include an introduction to the American system of higher education and the American experience led by Drury faculty.

"Drury and Barstow have a common heritage through our founding in the liberal arts tradition, and a shared vision for global education in the 21st century," said Manuel, in a news release. "This partnership will give Barstow's international students an avenue to continue their American education in a familiar setting, and it gives Drury access to an outstanding pool of bright and highly dedicated young minds."