Through efforts to expand their global programming reach, Lehman College recently initiated a dual-degree course with Sungshin Women’s University of South Korea.
Beginning this fall, Lehman students have the opportunity to attend the South Korean university and earn a degree from both institutions upon finishing their Lehman studies.
Similarly, when visiting Sungshin students complete their final 30 credits while studying in the United States, they’ll earn a degree from Lehman.
“We are very pleased to offer this exciting program with such a valued partner,” Lehman president Ricardo R. Fernandez said, touching on the already established program that offers Korean nurses a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the college.
This newest initiative is open to all areas of study.
So Hee Kim, who traveled from Korea to study English and International Trade at Lehman, is thrilled with what the program offers.
“As and English major student, it is a very great opportunity to study in an English speaking country,” she said. “And especially at Lehman, I can get a degree in one year, which is very rare and a special chance.”
Sungshin Women’s University president Hwa-Jin Shim traveled to the Lehman to introduce the program at a ceremony on August 25.
Excited to expand the university’s academic relations once again, she stated, “Sungshin aims to develop cultivated, well-rounded students, and this program will provide students from both Sungshin and Lehman with the opportunity to accomplish that goal.”
While one Lehman student is spending this semester studying in Seoul, South Korea, 10 Sungshin students are attending Lehman.
“Getting a degree and studying business in America is a very great chance for me to have,” Kim said. “Not everybody can have this opportunity, and it will be an advantage even when I try to get a job back in Korea.”
Coming from Sungshin, a coeducational university comprised of 13,000 students, seven colleges and five graduate schools, Kim said, experiencing and learning to understand diversity is an integral part of the dual-degree program.
“As we, Korean and American students, study together, we will learn how people from different cultures and backgrounds think differently or in a same way over diverse problems and issues,” she commented.
Further understanding the mission of the program, to generate global awareness among students, Kim also stated, “Throughout this process, I hope people will have a better understanding of each other, respect and appreciate each others ideas and many different cultural differences.”
