Present
The university was chosen as a Project 211 institution in 1996. In 2002 it signed an agreement with Ministry of Education and Beijing Municipal Government, and became the 10th university on the list of Project 985 to get special support from the Chinese Government, aiming to be a world prestigious university.
During its centennial celebration in 2002, an asteroid discovered in 1996 was named after the university as 8050 Beishida.
After a special visit of Premier Wen Jiabao on May 4 of 2006 to Beijing Normal University, the Chinese government implemented the Fee-Waiver Policy for teacher training programs in six normal universities that are supervised by the Ministry of Education, including Beijing Normal University.
The university also lays distinct emphasis on educational equality. The 2009 demographic composition data shows that 40% of its enrolled students are from western China, almost one third are from rural areas, a quarter are from low-income families, and ethnic minorities comprise for more than 10%.
Read more about this topic: Beijing Normal University
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