哈佛大學努力擴大在亞洲影響力

Harvard University is expanding its reach in Asia through its online program and by reaching out to students with lesser means, university President Drew Faust said.

哈佛大學(Harvard University)校長福斯特(Drew Faust)說，哈佛大學正打造在線項目，並主動接觸家境困難的學生，以擴大在亞洲的影響力。

EdX, the nonprofit joint venture started last year by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, offers university-level classes free online and already has attracted more than 700,000 people. Most of those enrolled are from outside the U.S., and 44,000 are from East Asia, which includes China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan, Dr. Faust said in an interview.

EdX是哈佛大學和麻省理工學院(Massachusetts Institute of Technology)去年合作推出的非營利項目，在線免費提供大學課程，已經吸引了超過70萬人。福斯特在接受採訪時說，大部分註冊學生來自美國以外的國家，其中44,000人來自東亞，包括中國大陸、香港、韓國和日本。

The history scholar said edX is well-received in the region, citing a biostatistics and epidemiology course that had 8,000 students from India.

這名歷史學學者說，edX在該地區非常受歡迎。她舉例說，一門生物統計和流行病學的課程吸引了8,000名印度學生。

'People see almost the miraculous impact [online education] can have and the ways in which the kinds of knowledge that people are so hungry for can be made available,' she said.

福斯特說，人們看到了在線課程能夠產生的幾乎奇蹟般的影響力，以及我們可以通過怎樣的方式向人們提供他們渴望獲得的知識。

Dr. Faust called edX a startup 'in every sense of the word,' adding that the site is searching for its business model, which could involve licensing course content and charging for certain offerings, such as executive business courses. She said the project will remain a nonprofit endeavor, 'but we do understand ourselves that it has to be sustainable, ultimately.'

福斯特說，edX是一項名副其實的初創項目，她補充說，該網站正在尋找商業模式，包括對課程內容的許可，以及對特定的課程進行收費，比如行政商務課程。她說：該項目將仍然是非營利項目，但是我們明白，這個項目歸根結底必須是可持續的。

Dr. Faust said edX has been producing online courses at a slower pace than competitors─such as the for-profit Coursera, which produces classes from 62 institutions including Duke University, the University of Pennsylvania and the National University of Singapore─so it can focus on engagement and quality. She said she hoped the university could learn from the online experiment and implement parts of it on campus.

福斯特說，edX推出在線課程的速度一直慢於Coursera等競爭者，這是爲了保證該項目專注於互動和課程質量。Cousera是一個以贏利爲目的的項目，提供來自62所大學的課程，包括杜克大學(Duke University)、賓夕法尼亞大學(University of Pennsylvania)和新加坡國立大學(National University of Singapore)。福斯特說，她希望哈佛大學能夠從這個在線項目中學習到經驗，在哈佛校園內部分加以運用。

Some users have had difficulty accessing course material that draws on YouTube─which is banned in China. Dr. Faust said edX is working to address the issue.

一些用戶難以獲得來自Youtube上的課程資源。Youtube在中國被禁止訪問。福斯特說，edX正在努力解決這一問題。

Dr. Faust, who will also visit South Korea, said China is the 'largest supplier' of international students enrolled at the university's campus, in Cambridge, Mass., and is becoming a new source of alumni donors.

福斯特說，在位於馬薩諸塞州劍橋城的哈佛大學校園內，來自中國的學生是所有國際學生中人數最多的，中國正在成爲校友捐助的新來源。福斯特還將訪問韓國。

The school is one of the few American colleges that is a household name in China, and many Chinese parents dream of enrolling their children there. Harvard has been linked to the country's political elite, with the children of several top leaders attending the university. The daughter of Chinese President Xi Jinping is enrolled in Harvard, and the son of disgraced Chongqing Communist party chief Bo Xilai was enrolled at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

哈佛大學是在中國家喻戶曉的美國學府之一，把子女送到該學校讀書是許多中國家長夢寐以求的事。哈佛大學已經與中國的政治精英聯繫在一起，數位高層領導人的子女都在該校就讀。中國國家主席習近平的女兒就在哈佛大學求學，已下臺的原重慶市委書記薄熙來的兒子也曾就讀於哈佛大學的肯尼迪政府學院(Kennedy School of Government)。

Dr. Faust said political connections don't boost an applicant's chances of getting accepted. 'There are numbers of children of world leaders who get turned down,' she said. Harvard has influenced China's current leaders as well. Li Yuanchao, a member of the powerful Politburo, studied at the Kennedy School in 2002.

福斯特說，政治關係不會增加申請者被錄取的機會。她說，許多世界各國領導人的子女都被拒絕。哈佛大學還曾對中國現在的領導人產生過影響。中共中央政治局委員李源潮2002年曾經在肯尼迪政府學院學習。中共中央政治局是一個擁有很大權力的機構。

Getting into Harvard is increasingly challenging─only 6% of applicants are accepted.

進入哈佛大學正變得越來越難──每年僅有6%的申請者被錄取。

'We've been aggressive in recruiting students from lower-income families and indicating that we want them,' she said. An undergraduate without financial aid paid $52,652 for tuition, room, board and fees during the 2012 academic year.

她說：我們一直積極地錄取來自低收入家庭的學生，並積極地表明我們想要這樣的學生。2012學年，沒有經濟資助的本科生需要繳納52,652美元的學雜費和住宿餐飲費。

Dr. Faust said the school gave out $15 million in financial aid to Chinese students, $9 million of which went to students in Ph.D. programs.

福斯特說，哈佛大學向中國學生髮放了1,500萬美元的經濟資助，其中900萬美元發給了博士研究生。