New York University Shanghai, the first Sino-US joint higher education institute, will start to admit undergraduate students next year, though construction on its campus in Pudong's Lujiazui area won't be completed until June 2014, education authorities said yesterday.

New York University

The first 300 undergraduates will study at East China Normal University, the Chinese partner of the joint institute, before the campus is built. The university, which broke ground a year ago, will launch seven majors including finance, natural science, and information and communication technology.

The joint institute is a pilot step in the local effort to improve international higher education.

The Shanghai Education Commission also plans to improve its service to foreign students and boost education exchanges by 2015 to make the city's education sector more attractive globally.

"We want to make Shanghai a global education hub," said Yin Jie, deputy director of the education commission.

The city will build 10 internship bases for overseas students by 2015 and will subsidize more students abroad. By 2015, 2 percent of university students and 2 percent vocational school students will get subsidies to study abroad or have overseas internships each year.