Private colleges are gaining popularity in Shanghai among young people to pursue higher education.

　　One out of every 10 university students in Shanghai is now studying at local private universities.

　　An official from the municipal education administration department said that Shanghai now has more than 1,800 private and non-government funded educational institutions, which include 40 private institutes and several hundred colleges providing non-diploma higher education.

　　Many private universities turn to prestigious local public universities for their higher management staff and faculty, which has given these organizations not only high-level teaching staff, but also made them attractive to students.

　　The shanghai Fuqiu Vocational Studies College, which was approved several weeks ago, is located in Lujiazui financial zone of Pudong New Area. Its president Hu Aiben was formerly assistant to the president of the prestigious Fudan University, and is also a PhD tutor.

　　All major teachers at Fuqiu are from Jiaotong University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and Shanghai University.

　　"We have set up 18 majoring programs, including computer information management, journalism and hotel management, which are relatively popular majors," said Hu, adding after three years' study here, if the students pass the exams organized by Fudan and Tongji universities, they will get professional training diplomas.

　　Compared with the former models of inviting retired university teachers, putting up posters on trees to attract students, and renting classrooms for teaching activities, most private educational institutions now have a strong resources of private capital.

　　Some private enterprises invest huge amounts of money in setting up colleges.Entrepreneurs these days choose to invest in education rather than just making donation. Xu Xincai, a shareholder of Fuqiu, said: "The education industry has a bright future, though it takes a longer period of time to receive a return on investment."

　　The "Law on the Promotion of Private Educational Institutions" passed at the end of 2002 by the Chinese National People's Congress stipulated that "investors in private schools can have dividends after school operation costs, development funds and other expenses are deleted."