Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has signed an agreement with a university in China to enable students from that university to come to the Daytona Beach campus for degrees in aeronautical science.
The memorandum of understanding announced Friday is with the Civil Aviation University of China in Tianjin -- the first such agreement Embry-Riddle has with a Chinese university.
A similar agreement was signed last year in Singapore, where Embry-Riddle has a worldwide campus.
The agreement with China signifies the growth in aviation and aerospace in East Asia, Embry-Riddle officials said.
Students from the Civil Aviation University of China will attend the university in China for three years and two years at Embry-Riddle. Here they will finish the final year of their bachelor's and obtain their master's. The bachelor's degree, though, will still be from China, and the master's will be from Embry-Riddle.
While Embry-Riddle has had students from throughout China, the agreement, university officials said, will provide students specifically from the Civil Aviation University an opportunity to earn a master's degree at Embry-Riddle.
Embry-Riddle president John Johnson said the memorandum is designed to make it possible for a cohort of students to complete their degrees at Embry-Riddle.
He expects the Daytona Beach campus to get about 20 students a year with the agreement. Students still must pay their own tuition and other costs.
The agreement was signed recently while John Watret, executive vice president and chief academic officer of Embry-Riddle's Worldwide campus, was in China to attend the 60th anniversary celebration of the Civil Aviation University.
Johnson said Embry-Riddle is the only American university that is a member of the U.S.-China Aviation Cooperation Program.
Embry-Riddle has worked with China since 2005 training Chinese management with the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, which is similar to the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States, Johnson said. About 30 people come every summer.
Starting in the 1990s, Embry-Riddle also started to train air traffic controllers from China.
China is a country with an emerging aviation industry, Johnson said. Watret also said in a prepared statement that China is facing challenges "meeting the phenomenal growth in aviation."
"Aviation is a global economy," Johnson said, and it's important for Embry-Riddle to be involved and advise in the development and for the American aerospace industry to work with China. As China develops, Johnson said, it will translate to more business for American aerospace companies and a safer infrastructure.
"They are not just going to be flying in China -- they are going to be flying all over the world. We want to make sure they are safe and well trained," Johnson said.
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