BEIJING, Oct. 25 -- Students at Fudan University can apply for free education at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, starting next year, university officials announced here yesterday.

    The university's newly established McDonnell International Scholars Academy will offer a US$60,000 annual scholarship to accepted students at 15 Asian universities, including Fudan, Tokyo University and the University of Seoul.

    The money will cover tuition, living expenses and transportation costs for annual home return. Free extracurricular programs include corporate internship, leadership training and seminars with experts.

    "It's like a free ride to top education at a top university," said Mark S. Wrighton, chancellor of Washington University.

    However, only students nominated by Fudan University must first be admitted to a graduate or professional degree program at Washington University - then they can apply for the scholarship.

    The first batch of more than 20 scholars will begin study in the United States in the fall of 2006.

    Meanwhile, the Washington University's Olin Business School yesterday renewed its partnership in the joint Executive Masters of Business Administration with Fudan's school of management for another five years.

    Since 2002, the Fudan-Olin program has trained three batches of 182 EMBA graduates, most of whom are senior managers at large multinational companies.

    (Source: Shanghai Daily news)