Chinese private school company buys US university campus

A Chinese company is set to buy a campus from the University of Connecticut and turn it into an international school.

Weiming Education Group has agreed to buy the 58-acre West Hartford campus for $12.6 million (£8.7 million), reported the China Daily.

The company, which says that it is the largest provider of private schools in China, has more than 40,000 students across 42 schools. It branched out into the United States in 2012.

Connecticut’s West Hartford campus is one of five regional university campuses, the newspaper reported, and is being sold as the institution prepares to open at another location.  

Weiming hopes to attract Connecticut students to teach in its international schools across Asia, according to a letter from the group to local city leaders arguing the case for the purchase. 

“The outstanding academic reputation of both West Hartford and the State of Connecticut is what has led to Weiming's interest in possibly locating at the University of Connecticut property," says Tim DiScipio, US chief executive of Weiming, in the letter.

“Connecticut leads the nation in academic excellence, the state high schools rank #1 in the combined Northeast and New England region, and the significant talent pool of teachers and administrators with advanced degrees is an important factor.”

Weiming has branched out in areas currently dominated by UK, US and Australian companies by offering partner universities in the US help with improving the English skills and academic proficiency of Chinese international students. 

david.matthews@tesglobal.com