Monash and Southeast University announce strategic educational expansion to partnership in Suzhou
Monash University and Southeast University (SEU) are redefining their strategic collaboration in China through an uplift to the institutional partnership approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education (MoE).
The variation to the current collaboration sees a name change, ushers in three newly-approved joint undergraduate degrees in engineering, and provides a significant increase in student quotas granted by the MoE.
As part of this variation, the former Joint Graduate School between the two universities is now renamed as the Southeast University-Monash University Joint International School (Suzhou), reflecting its expanded mission to provide world-class education across both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Monash’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) and Senior Vice-President Professor Craig Jeffrey said the approval reflects the work of many staff across Monash and SEU.
“We’re proud to be building on 14 years of excellent work with Southeast University,” he said.
“The expansion into undergraduate education is important to meet the education needs of the dynamic Yangtze River Delta region.”
At the heart of the educational expansion are three new undergraduate engineering “2+2” programs, each with an annual intake of 100 new students. This lifts the Ministry approved student capacity of the Joint School from 2090 to 3290.
Southeast University is a top and highly selective university in China. It attracts highly academically competitive students into its undergraduate programs through the national Gaokao system.
The first cohort of 300 SEU-Monash joint undergraduate engineering students will commence at SEU in September 2026.
The students will undertake their first two years of study in Suzhou before transferring to Monash University’s Australian campuses to complete their degrees.
Professor Huanting Wang is Monash’s Pro Vice-Chancellor (Suzhou) and President. He’s excited to be overseeing the evolution of Monash Suzhou to support a multi-tiered educational collaboration with SEU as a key partner.
“We are bringing Monash’s global vision and educational excellence to a new generation of students in China, providing them with an education shaped not only by our technical expertise, but our renowned international capabilities building and immersive experiences for Monash students,” he said.
Since the establishment of the original Joint Graduate School in 2012, the partnership between Monash University and Southeast University has focussed on delivering postgraduate programs, covering a range of engineering and computing specialities, business and economics, translation, transportation, finance, biology and health.
To learn more about the 2+2 Engineering programs available through the Southeast University–Monash University Joint International School (Suzhou) for the 2026 intake, please refer to this brochure.