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SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah has been given permission to open a new campus half a world away in South Korea. The U. is one of only a handful of schools asked to open a campus in the Asian country.
Officials with the University of Utah say, in this global economy, the new University of Utah Asia Campus will be a major help for students.
“This is really going to be a gateway for Utah students to engage in an array of learning abroad and global internship experiences,” said University of Utah spokesperson Maria O'Mara.
The campus will offer undergraduate degrees in communications, psychology and social work.
“In 2008, the University of Utah was invited by the Korean government to be one of the first four U.S. and European universities to join in this Asian campus,” O'Mara said.
The other schools include George Mason University, the State University of New York, Stonybrook and Ghent University in Belgium. O’Mara believes the high number of students that speak Korean may have attracted that Asian government to the University of Utah.
Plus, O’Mara said the campus won’t cost them a dime.
“Campus operations will be subsidized by the Korean government," O'Mara said. "There is no infrastructure cost for the university and no expenditure of state dollars.”
The university will accept applications for the fall semester until the first of July.
“Undergraduate students will enroll in the Asia campus, and they’ll spend three of their four years in [South] Korea and one year back here at the University’s main campus in Salt Lake City,” O'Mara said.
