Partnering Case Studies

Half a century ago, a university looking for a partnership with another higher education institution abroad would have typically reached out to a comparable candidate: A U.S. research university would most likely have sought out another research university—likely one in Western Europe.

By comparison, the dual-degree partnership between Columbia University and City University of Hong Kong is not an obvious match: The former is an Ivy League, comprehensive university campus founded in 1754; the latter, on the other side of the world, is a technical college that was accredited in 1995.

As an article on Columbia’s own website notes about the university’s selection of partners, City University of Hong Kong “was not an obvious choice; but it may turn out to be the perfect one.”

These days, with the growing need for globally educated graduates and the imperative to maximize internationalization and minimize expenses, seemingly incompatible institutions with very different strengths and weaknesses are increasingly seeking each other out to achieve their goals.

Opposites Attract

David Cheng, associate vice president of City University of Hong Kong, who served in leadership roles at Columbia University for more than a decade, says both institutions make good use of their different focuses and environments. Students at both institutions are afforded the opportunity to immerse themselves in two distinct academic, social, and cultural environments, not to mention access internships and job markets in New York and Hong Kong, and two alumni networks.

“The beauty of the program lies in the fact that it integrates CityU’s