每日英语：Harvard Expands Reach in Asia

Harvard University is expanding its reach in Asia through its online program and by reaching out to students with lesser means, university President Drew Faust said.

EdX, the nonprofit joint venture started last year by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, offers university-level classes free online and already has attracted more than 700,000 people. Most of those enrolled are from outside the U.S., and 44,000 are from East Asia, which includes China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan, Dr. Faust said in an interview.

The history scholar said edX is well-received in the region, citing a biostatistics and epidemiology course that had 8,000 students from India.

epidemiology：流行病学，传染病学

'People see almost the miraculous impact [online education] can have and the ways in which the kinds of knowledge that people are so hungry for can be made available,' she said.

miraculous：不可思议的，奇迹的　　　　endeavor：努力，尽力 　　　　 sustainable：可持续的

Dr. Faust called edX a startup 'in every sense of the word,' adding that the site is searching for its business model, which could involve licensing course content and charging for certain offerings, such as executive business courses. She said the project will remain a nonprofit endeavor, 'but we do understand ourselves that it has to be sustainable, ultimately.'

Dr. Faust said edX has been producing online courses at a slower pace than competitors─such as the for-profit Coursera, which produces classes from 62 institutions including Duke University, the University of Pennsylvania and the National University of Singapore─so it can focus on engagement and quality. She said she hoped the university could learn from the online experiment and implement parts of it on campus.

Some users have had difficulty accessing course material that draws on YouTube─which is banned in China. Dr. Faust said edX is working to address the issue.

Dr. Faust, who will also visit South Korea, said China is the 'largest supplier' of international students enrolled at the university's campus, in Cambridge, Mass., and is becoming a new source of alumni donors.

alumni：校友，毕业生　　　　　　　　

The school is one of the few American colleges that is a household name in China, and many Chinese parents dream of enrolling their children there. Harvard has been linked to the country's political elite, with the children of several top leaders attending the university. The daughter of Chinese President Xi Jinping is enrolled in Harvard, and the son of disgraced Chongqing Communist party chief Bo Xilai was enrolled at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

disgraced：失宠的，遭贬谪的

Dr. Faust said political connections don't boost an applicant's chances of getting accepted. 'There are numbers of children of world leaders who get turned down,' she said. Harvard has influenced China's current leaders as well. Li Yuanchao, a member of the powerful Politburo, studied at the Kennedy School in 2002.

Getting into Harvard is increasingly challenging─only 6% of applicants are accepted.

'We've been aggressive in recruiting students from lower-income families and indicating that we want them,' she said. An undergraduate without financial aid paid $52,652 for tuition, room, board and fees during the 2012 academic year.

Dr. Faust said the school gave out $15 million in financial aid to Chinese students, $9 million of which went to students in Ph.D. programs.