Jump to the main content block
:::

Ming Chi University of Technology (MCUT) signed an agreement respectively with the University of Cincinnati and Northern Illinois University to cooperate on the program of duel master’s degrees

update date : 2022-05-11

In 2016, Ming Chi University of Technology (MCUT) has signed an agreement respectively with the University of Cincinnati and Northern Illinois University to cooperate on the program of duel master’s degrees. This means that students can take classes at both MCUT and each partner university to earn two master’s degrees within the span of just two years.

The University of Cincinnati (UC) is a public university located in the State of Ohio, USA; the university has been cultivating many talented individuals throughout its 200-year history. According to the 2021 U.S. News, the University of Cincinnati is ranked 202nd in Best Global Universities. As for Northern Illinois University (NIU), is a public research university located in the State of Illinois, USA; the university is composed of seven degree-granting colleges and has a student body of 25,000 with over 240,000 alumni. Many of NIU's programs are nationally accredited for meeting high standards of academic quality. According to the 2021 U.S. News, Northern Illinois University is ranked 703rd in Best Global Universities. The partnership between MCUT and both UC and NIU helps students open doors to the world through solid education from both universities; additionally, this will allow MCUT students to visit and study in the States when they are still at a young age.

Yi-ling Xu, a student from Department of Mechanical Engineering, MCUT, who completed the master program study at UC, stated that at the beginning of the semester, for students whose mother tongue was not English, it was very difficult to fully understand the content of the class and do assignments. It was stressful to submit a report of more than 3 pages in English. However, through group reports or discussions with her peers, she gradually became accustomed to the situation, and her English skills had also improved a lot. The biggest difference between American students and Taiwanese students was that they like to ask questions and speak in class, and were very courageous to express their opinions. Therefore, the professors there also encouraged foreign students to speak out for themselves, regardless of whether it’s right or wrong. Xu believes that this is the biggest gain for studying abroad. Being able to break out of one’s comfort zone and challenge oneself. In addition to attending classes, Xu was also lucky to have the opportunity of taking an industrial internship at the company “Inteplast” under the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the internship only took about 3 months, she had learned many new skills, such as communication skills with manufacturers or colleagues, programming... etc. Xu also said that in addition to experiencing the different cultures of education, the duel master’s degree program also made her become acquainted with people from different countries. Many people may be limited by economic considerations so as not to put studying abroad into consideration. The MCUT-UC duel master’s degree program not only allows students to enjoy discounts on tuition fees but also provides scholarships similar to the ones for the American students. MCUT also helps students apply for funding from the Ministry of Education projects to subsidize the flight tickets and living expenses. In addition, the duel master’s degree program can reduce the time spent for studying abroad. It takes the same amount of time as regular master students, but with two master degrees upon program completion. International studying experience leads to a greater advantage to compete with others in job hunting. Although MCUT also offers courses in English, it is still very different from the experience of taking courses in the United States. She feels that she has improved a lot in listening and writing in English.

Tzu-min Wu, a student from Department of Business and Management, MCUT, who completed the study at NIU, stated that by joining the duel master’s degree program, she has gained 5 benefits. The first benefit was professional competence; through course training, in addition to testing English ability, logical thinking, and reaction ability, critical thinking is also emphasized. Therefore, the teachers strongly required everyone to interact and discuss and express opinions to stimulate for more ideas. The second benefit was improved English communication skills. The overseas studying environment included social networking, grocery shopping, car rental application, bank accounting, mobile phone number application, etc. These all were practical communication experiences that were not commonly used in Taiwan. It was also a big test and learning for international students. The third benefit was cultural understanding. In the past, we could only listen to other people to share and understand American culture through movies or American TV series. It was not until we lived in the local area and interacted with the people and things that we understood of so-called American culture was more open, courageous in performance, more independent and focused on privacy, etc. It had very huge differences with Asian culture. The fourth benefit was opening your eyes; the United States of America is a country composed of multicultural immigrants. In addition, in the global MBA Program, students came from various countries including Africa, Colombia, the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, mainland China, and Mexico. You could know them during the interaction. Because of the different cultural backgrounds, they had various ways of thinking. And finally the last benefit is improving employability and global mobility; Wu had gained a lot from these ten months of intensive training. It not only enhanced language skills and professional skills but also broadened her horizon. It also made her develop the vision for the future world and be expected to contribute to the whole society.

At the moment, there are 3 students from College of Environmental Engineering and 2 students from the College of Engineering participating in the UC program; 2 students from College of Management and Design participating in the NIU program. Throughout the years, MCUT has had more than 10 students who completed the duel master’s degree program. The program is proven to improve student’s language skills and expand their international perspective and thinking while giving them greater opportunities in the future.

Traditional Chinese Edition明志科大送學生進美國名校取得雙聯學位

Source: Office of International Affairs
Click Num: