Even as U.S. visa regulations have made it more difficult for foreign students to enter colleges here, Benedictine University instead brought its classrooms to students in China.

As China becomes a bigger player in the global business market, Benedictine University in Lisle has positioned itself to take advantage of this booming market by providing MBAs to Chinese students in Shenyang, a city of 4.8 million people in northeast China, through affiliations with local universities there.

In 2005 Benedictine received approval from the North Central Association to offer a master of business administration (MBA) at the Shenyang University of Technology and a master of science in management information systems (MSMIS) degree at Shenyang Jianzhu University.

The courses for each program are taught by both Benedictine and Chinese professors using Benedictine’s curriculum.

Benedictine was the first American university to receive approval from the Chinese Central Government to offer these programs in northeast China.

The number of graduate students from China has gone down in recent years because of stricter visa regulations. The Council of Graduate Schools reports that Chinese students applying for American graduate programs in fall 2004 plummeted by 45 percent from the previous year.

However, demand for American MBAs did not waver, but the application process became difficult and cumbersome and as a result students began to turn away.

Since the program’s inception in 2005 Benedictine has graduated hundreds of Chinese students with MBAs.

“An American MBA is still at the top of the list for many students in China,” said William Carroll, president of Benedictine. “This really impacts these students.”

As more U.S. firms are attempting to establish business relationships with China, Carroll believes that having an MBA from an American university will benefit the Chinese students in future relations with American enterprises.

This constitutes the next phase of Benedictine’s operations in China. While it is training and educating Chinese students overseas, the university hopes to establish a business portal for local companies that want to expand their business to China.

“I’ve heard horror stories from so many companies about trying to get on the ground in China,” said Carroll. “It’s not rocket science, but it does require some training and we have already worked through the problems.”

Benedictine has partnered with Nomadic Consulting in Chicago to offer training seminars and workshops on doing business in China.

But perhaps its greatest resource is the growing number of established Chinese business contacts the university is developing through its graduate programs.

“We have hundreds of graduates in China and we have people on the ground,” said Carroll. “Our graduates want to deal with American businesses.”

Benedictine has so far offered one seminar, but the portal is not fully developed. The advisory board has just been put in place and the university has begun the process of seeking out businesses that may want to invest in Benedictine’s expertise. There will be a nominal fee for entry.

“The portal is not completely in place yet, but the message is to stay tuned,” said Carroll. “We have a proven track record in China and we think that companies will come here for quality training.”