Jointly established by New York University and East China Normal University, NYU Shanghai is the third degree-granting campus in NYU’s global network, joining NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU's campus in New York City. It is also the first Sino-US joint venture university approved by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China with independent legal person status. With its 2013 inaugural undergraduate class hailing from all over the world, NYU Shanghai combines the best of Chinese and American education, creating a new kind of higher-education model for its talented students against the backdrop of globalization. Adopting a liberal arts curriculum with English as the language of instruction, NYU Shanghai expects students to spend the first two years on core liberal arts courses and select an academic specialization for deeper exploration and research in their third and fourth years. During their undergraduate studies, students will have the opportunity to spend one to three semesters studying abroad as part of the University’s efforts to create a cross-cultural learning environment that will help students become global citizens.