Schwarzman Scholars


Schwarzman Scholars, is an international postgraduate award program for students to study at Tsinghua University, founded by American financier Stephen A. Schwarzman. Awarded to 100-200 applicants worldwide a year, scholars study for a fully-funded one-year master's degree in Global Affairs at Tsinghua University. The program has an acceptance rate comparable to the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships, making it one of the most competitive scholarships in the world.
The program launched in June 2016, upon the completion of Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University, located in Beijing, China, and is housed in a college designed by Robert A.M. Stern, Dean of the Yale School of Architecture. It hosts up to 200 scholars annually from the United States, China, and other countries around the world.
Modeled on the Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University and the classical Chinese academies known as Shūyuàn, Schwarzman Scholars at Tsinghua University is a competitor to similar international scholarship programs like the Yenching Scholarship at Peking University. Since its founding, the program has maintained ties to the United Front Work Department as well as other organizations and personnel affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party.

History and motivation

Schwarzman Scholars was conceptualized by its Founder, Stephen A. Schwarzman in order to help future leaders better understand China, providing them with the firsthand knowledge and relationships necessary to foster collaboration and cooperation between nations. Schwarzman believed it was necessary for future leaders to better understand China's history, culture, economy and motivations, and by fostering greater cooperation between the East and West, he hoped to forge future geopolitical stability.
According to Schwarzman, in the fall of 2010, then-university president Gu Binglin asked if Schwarzman would want to help Tsinghua with a concept for a "Global Scholars" program. At the time, Schwarzman was on the advisory board of Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management. A year later in 2011, a delegation from Tsinghua visited Schwarzman in New York where the concept was put on hold until the leadership at Tsinghua had changed and the global financial crisis had receded.
In 2012, the newly appointed Tsinghua President Chen Jining met with Schwarzman in Paris. Schwarzman, who was interested in moving forward with the concept, put forth six special ideas that would "reduce friction" for the new program. First, the college would need its own physical facility. Second, the program would need to be immersive, including travel and field work across the country with professors. Third, the program would assign mentors to each of the scholars in their area of interest. Fourth, there had to be no cost to the scholars. Fifth, the program would only be one year instead of two or three years long. Sixth and last, the program would be taught in English. Schwarzman told Chen:
"If we do this, what I really want to do is construct a program that that has the same prestige as the Rhodes, because those are the students that I’m aiming for."
Schwarzman also saw the program as a way to bridge the cultures of the world's current two largest powers, the United States and China. With 200 Scholars per year, he envisioned an alumni network of 10,000 scholars within a half century to include future heads of state and government. In spring of 2013, the program was announced at the Great Hall of the People, the seat of the National People's Congress in Beijing, China, and began its fundraising campaign.

Fundraising

The fundraising campaign to raise US$200 million from foreign sources, in addition to Schwarzman's $100 million donation to the program, was also simultaneously launched at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Shortly after in fall of 2013, Oxford University's Rhodes House announced the launch of its own Second Century Campaign, led by a new founder McCall MacBain with a goal to increase their endowment from 100 million GBP to at least 250 million GBP, leading to a fundraising competition between Tsinghua and Oxford. In spring 2014, Peking University, Tsinghua's chief rival, announced its own global scholarship program, the Yenching Scholars at Yenching Academy, further increasing competition for funding. In summer 2014, Tsinghua University announced it had reached its original fundraising goal and that it would increase it to US$350 million. In 2014, when the program first launched its admissions process, Tsinghua Schwarzman had already raised US$333 million for its endowment fund. Shortly after a third target of US$400 million, to be reached by the following year, was announced. Commenting on the fundraising competition, Schwarzman remarked:
"The Rhodes scholarships and Schwarzman Scholars programs have similar endowments and fund-raising goals. Which one is ahead in any given week depends mainly on the exchange rate of the pound, which has weakened lately against the dollar."
Meanwhile, it became clear that the Yenching Academy at Peking University would be funded through Chinese private donations and government grants, which set off competition to further grow the two programs' endowments. As a result of the increased competition among full-scholarship leadership programs, there was a marked growth in fundraising, with the endowments moving towards a half billion USD each.

Program design and allocation

Schwarzman Scholars study for a one-year Master's degree in Global Affairs at Tsinghua University; with one of the three concentrations available: Public Policy, International Relations, Economics & Business. The scholars live and study at the Schwarzman College, a purpose-built residential college inside Tsinghua University designed by Robert A.M. Stern, former Dean of the Yale School of Architecture. Scholars live in Beijing for a full year of study and cultural immersion, traveling the country, engaging with world leaders and developing a better understanding of China through first-hand experiences.
Approximately 45% of the participants come from the U.S., 20% from China and 35% from the rest of the world. Students apply directly to the program and are not required to obtain a nomination from their university. The Institute of International Education in the U.S., which administers the Fulbright Scholarships, was initially responsible for the international and American selection processes.

Cohorts

The program is based on a cohort system, where admitted students live, dine and study together in a close environment, similar to the collegiate system in British Universities. In 2014, Schwarzman Scholars held four recruitment launch events in New York, Singapore, London, and Palo Alto in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The inaugural cohort of 111 Scholars was announced on January 10, 2016 and selected from a group of roughly 3,050 applicants. With an acceptance rate comparable to the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships, the founding class included 5 graduates of Princeton, 5 students from Yale, and 6 alumni of Harvard. The third cohort of 142 scholars, announced on December 4, 2017, and was selected from over 4,000 applicants and represents 97 universities from 39 countries.

Leadership and governance

Advisory Board

Schwarzman Scholars has an Advisory Board whose members include former leaders in government and affiliates of institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Duke and Oxford.