Finley Graves, provost and vice president for academic affairs, traveled to Kaifeng, China, in June for a historic trip to bestow degrees on four undergraduate students who participated in UNT's Student Transfer Program, the first time a UNT administrator traveled to China to bestow degrees.

The students graduated with two degrees from two universities in two countries at the same time.

Qi Liu ('16) earned a degree in mechanical engineering and Jiajun Teng ('16) earned a degree in accounting, while Chen Peng ('16) earned a degree in marketing, and Binghuan Zhang ('16) earned his degree in logistics and supply chain management.

The Student Transfer Program is an international collaboration between UNT and the China Center for International Educational Exchange. Students begin by attending one year of school at a participating college in China, then come to UNT and complete the classes required for their UNT degree plan. The students then return to China to finish degree requirements at their originating university.

UNT's Student Transfer Program is the only one of its kind in the state of Texas. The program, administered by UNT-International, offers students a choice of 21 undergraduate majors.

"We are so proud of this program and of the new UNT graduates," program advisor Jiaying "Cathy" Hu says. "They tackled their studies, as well as the challenges of language barriers and cultural differences, and in return received an amazing experience and education."

Of the four graduates, two will continue their education by pursuing master's degrees and two have been hired on with major corporations in China.