PITTSBURGH — Carnegie Mellon University plans to open a branch campus in Rwanda next year, making it the first American university to do so in central Africa.
The students who attend the program in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, will get exactly the same diploma as those who attend Carnegie Mellon’s Pittsburgh campus, officials told The Associated Press. Credits from the two programs will even be fully transferable.
Rwanda’s President, Paul Kagame, was expected to give a speech Friday in Pittsburgh, announcing details of the program. The first degree offered will be a master of science in information technology.“Higher education is a key to success in the global economy,” said Carnegie Mellon President Jared Cohon.
“Rwanda’s Minister of Education, Pierre Damien Habumuremyi, said the school fit well with the country’s vision of becoming an economy based on information and communications technology.
Branch campuses are common in the oil-rich Persian Gulf, Europe, and China, as are student exchange programs. But actually opening a higher education facility in central Africa is an entirely different thing, said Bruce Jones, a professor at New York University and author of “Peacekeeping in Rwanda,” an analysis of the events that led to the country’s 1994 genocide.
“That strikes me as a very significant thing. The odds are very high that that’s for the good,” Jones said of CMU’s plans.
The program will target students from east Africa, and will give preference to Rwandan citizens, the university said. However, students from around the world can apply.
