Tsinghua-UIUC “3+2” BS + MS Program in Mechanical Engineering

The College of Mechanical Engineering at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China and the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA have jointly created a “Tsinghua-UIUC-Corporate” (TUC) Fellowship Program. This program allows the TUC Fellows to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tsinghua University and a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from UIUC in five (5) years. The TUC Fellows will spend the first three years at Tsinghua University, and the following 2 years at UIUC and the sponsoring corporations. The detailed requirements and timetable for this program is given below. The educational objectives of the program are the same as for the individual degrees.

Timetable:

Total length of study for this program is 5 years, including 3 years at Tsinghua University and 2 years at UIUC and sponsoring corporations. Detailed timetable is as follows.

  • First 3 years towards BS/BA degree at Tsinghua University (Year I-III)
  • 2 semesters of academic study towards BS & MS degree in selected field of study at UIUC (September – May, year IV)
  • First 7 month internship at partner corporation (June – December, Year IV-V, Students will register for 12 hours of ME 597 during this time).
  • Interim report on work done during internship for Tsinghua BS degree (January, Year V)
  • One semester academic study at UIUC (January – May, Year V)
  • Second 4 month internship (China and/or US, June – September, Year V)
  • BS (Tsinghua) and MS (UIUC) awarded (September, Year V)

The general area of Mechanical Engineering at Tsinghua University includes degree programs in both the College of Mechanical Engineering and the College of Astronautics and Aeronautics. This undergraduate educational plan for the general area of Mechanical Engineering serves as a guideline for the two colleges to establish their respective undergraduate curriculum.

Course Requirements for BS Degree at Tsinghua:

Undergraduate educational plan for a BS degree in the general area of Mechanical Engineering requires 170 hours for graduation, including:

  • 140 course hours in Spring and Fall semesters (20 hours per week on average),
  • 15 hours in Summer sessions for engineering internship, and
  • 15 comprehensive thesis study (senior design) hours.

The 140 course hours earned in spring and fall semesters must include:

  • 35 hours in humanities and social sciences,
  • 35 hours in natural science fundamentals, and
  • 70 hours in technical areas, consisting of
    • 40 hours in core courses in the general area of Mechanical Engineering,
    • 20 hours in technical major courses
    • 10 hours in the information technology area.

Course Requirements for MS Degree at Illinois:

In the MS portion of the program, a total of 36 hours of credit, including at least 32 hours of formal graded coursework and at least 4 hours of ME 597, the independent investigation course, are required. Eight of the formal graded coursework must be at the 500 level, and four of the eight must be in the major field. The internship work may be counted toward ME 597. Students must also register for the graduate seminar course (ME 590) every semester in residence following formal admission in to the graduate portion of the program and complete MSE 492 – Lab Safety.

Students must maintain a graduate GPA of 3.0 in order to remain in this program.

The BS and MS degrees are granted simultaneously at the end of the program.

Admission:

Applications to the TUC Fellowship program should be submitted by qualified Tsinghua students at the end of the first semester of the junior year. The qualifications include:

  • Students must have a minimum GPA of 3.60/4.00 or higher, and have earned 110 credit hours towards the BS-ME requirements at Tsinghua University at the time of submitting their applications.
  • A special “3+2” BS+MS application along with supporting documents must be submitted to the “3+2” Fellowship Program Office.
  • Students must have a minimum TOEFL score of 613 (paper based), 257 (computer based) or 103 (internet based) to be eligible to apply to the program. This score cannot be older than 2 years from the proposed term of entry.
  • Students in this program will be admitted to the MS program after they complete the 2-month intensive English/culture immersion program.
  • The department will pay the application fee ($50 US/$60 International) for these students.
  • Each student is required to identify a graduate advisor and file a graduate course plan in the semester the student is granted formal admission to the graduate portion of the program.
  • Once admitted into the MS program, the Head of Graduate Programs will act as the student’s advisor until a permanent advisor is found.
  • Students will be admitted on “limited status” since they will not hold the BS degree at the time of admission.

Withdrawal:

Students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.3/4.0 for the courses taken at UIUC in order to remain in the program. Students who do not meet the Graduate College and departmental requirements the graduate program will be required to leave the program.

Students may withdraw from the program and return to Tsinghua University to continue in the regular four-year BS degree program, provided they meet the normal GPA requirements of that program (and vice versa). Students who withdraw from the combined program after they have taken courses at the exchange University for graduate credit may petition to have those credits counted toward their undergraduate program requirements.

Continued Graduate Study:

If the sponsoring company prefers, students who complete the combined program may petition to continue in graduate school for a PhD. These students will hold the same status (post MS) as students entering the PhD program with an MS degree, and will be required to take the department's qualifying examination no later than the second calendar semester after graduation from this program.

Cost of the Program:

The total cost of the program for the 2 years of study at UIUC and sponsoring corporations is estimated to be $125,000 (2006 value), which includes non-resident tuition and fees, ($85,000), stipend and housing allowance to cover living expenses ($30,000), healthcare and travel cost ($5,000), and additional living expenses during internship ($5,000).

Curriculum at Tsinghua:

Two directive curricula, for Mechanical Engineering and for Industrial Engineering, are included in this document. The curriculum for Mechanical Engineering is applicable to students in departments of Mechanical Engineering, Precision Instruments and Mechanology, Automotive Engineering, and Thermal Engineering. The curriculum for Industrial Engineering is applicable to students in the Department of Industrial Engineering.

Tsinghua Curriculum for Mechanical and Thermal Engineering (PDF)