Tsinghua University - Present

Present

Most national and international university rankings place Tsinghua amongst the best universities in mainland China. Admission to Tsinghua is extremely competitive. Every year, many applicants scoring the highest in the National College Entrance Exams choose Tsinghua. According to a report in 2008, 215 out of 300 students who scored the top 10 in the 30 tested provinces and regions chose Tsinghua and 21 out of the 30 top scorers in each province and region chose the university. A majority of selected students are among the brightest high school graduates in the country. Admissions to its graduate schools are also daunting by any measure; for instance, only about 16% of MBA applicants are admitted each year. A recent study shows that Tsinghua University is the undergraduate alma mater that produces the most PhDs in U.S. universities.

Tsinghua alumni include the current CPC General secretary, Chinese president Hu Jintao, who graduated with a degree in hydraulic engineering in 1964, and the current Chinese vice president, Xi Jinping, who graduated with a degree in chemical engineering in 1979.

Tsinghua has a reputation for hosting some of the most distinguished guest speakers of any university in the world, with international leaders such as Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Henry Kissinger, Carlos Ghosn, and Henry Paulson, all recently giving lectures to the university community.

As of 2003, Tsinghua University had 12 colleges and 48 departments, 41 research institutes, 35 research centers, and 167 laboratories, including 15 national key laboratories. In September 2006, Peking Union Medical College was renamed to Peking Union Medical College, Tsinghua University, although the Peking Union Medical College and Tsinghua University remain two separate institutions. The university offers 51 bachelor's degree programs, 139 master's degree programs and 107 PhD programs. Recently, Tsinghua has become the first Chinese university to offer a Master of Laws program in American law, through a cooperative venture with the Temple University Beasley School of Law. The university is a member of LAOTSE, an international network of leading universities in Europe and Asia. Each year, the University celebrates the Intellectual Property Summer Institute in cooperation with Franklin Pierce Law Center of Concord, New Hampshire. It has its own editorial, Tsinghua University Press.