UT ends agreement with China-backed scholarship program – WBIR
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The University of Tennessee ended the memorandum of understanding between the university and the China Scholarship Council that has been in place since 2024. The agreement allowed both bodies to select and support Chinese students as they pursued UT’s PhD and Master’s degree programs.
Documents state the program would fund students for up to 48 months for PhD candidates and up to 24 months for Master’s candidates, with up to 10 students per year in each respective track. They also state that CSC would provide the in-state tuition total for each student, as well as round-trip international airfare and visa application fees.
UT would be responsible for covering the out-of-state tuition for the students, as well as providing graduate assistantships, each included a funding package, during the students’ stay.
On July 10, the university sent the CSC a formal notice terminating the memorandum between the two entities.
The letter states the memorandum does not have any binding legal obligations, and therefore can be terminated at any time.
The termination followed the University of Tennessee receiving a letter from the Trump administration urging the school to cut ties with the scholarship program, according to the Associated Press.
In an article posted last week, the university reported that they were reviewing a request asking it to terminate its association with the program. The letter officially terminating the memorandum is dated for the day after the article’s publication.
University officials said three students were currently enrolled through the scholarship program and are assessing the “potential impact” on those students.
