1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 178 The Differences Between Public and Private Universities
When Li Qiwei introduced his student as a professor, it caused a great shock within the delegation of Sakura Country.

Especially those students who came with their teachers, their eyes were red with excitement, and they wished they could immediately become Li Qiwei's disciples, maybe they could also become professors.

However, they can only think about it.

But there was one person in the delegation who didn't care about this. He was more concerned about the private university mentioned by Li Qiwei.

So, after he saw that the room was gradually becoming quiet and no one was making a sound, he spoke:
"Hello, Mr. Li Qiwei. I am Takeuchi Masaharu from the Faculty of Science at Waseda University in Sakura Country."

"I am temporarily honored to be a professor in the Faculty of Science."

"I just heard you say that you founded a private university. I am very interested."

"Because Waseda University, where I am, is also a private university."

“But I found a problem, that is, students prefer to go to public universities rather than private universities.”

"This also resulted in very few students at Waseda University."

“Have you encountered these problems when establishing a private university? How did you solve them?”

After saying this, Takeuchi Masaharu nodded respectfully. It was obvious that he was sincerely seeking advice and not deliberately looking for trouble.

After listening to this, Li Qiwei was also very moved. This is indeed a problem.

He also has some knowledge of the educational reforms in Sakura Country.

In real history, from the Meiji Restoration to the following decades, nine universities named "Empire" were established in the Sakura Country.

This means that these universities are serving the empire and are training reserve talents for the country.

Tokyo Imperial University and Kyoto Imperial University are two of the universities that have already been built.

This is also the reason why Nogami Shinsuke is so arrogant. Getting admitted to these universities means a bright future.

Later, due to the defeat of the Sakura Country, the word "Imperial" was removed from the university, and it became the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University.

Since these two universities were built with the whole country's efforts, their status in the domestic education field in Sakura is supreme.

According to statistics, the University of Tokyo has produced 16 prime ministers of the Sakura Country and 8 Nobel Prize winners, while Kyoto University has produced 11 Nobel Prize winners.

This shows that these two universities are very strong.

Countless children of ordinary people hope to be admitted into it, change their fate, leap over the dragon gate, and become the best in the country.

Of course, only two universities cannot meet the huge educational needs in the country.

The education in the Land of Sakura is basically copied from Europe and the United States, so private universities are also allowed in the country.

Waseda University was founded in 1882 by Okuma Shigenobu, the former Prime Minister of the Sakura Country. It is a comprehensive university.

This is also a very famous university in history.

Einstein visited Waseda University in 1922 and gave an open-air speech.

Famous alumni of the school include Haruki Murakami, Yuzuru Hanyu, Ai Fukuhara, etc.

There are also several very famous people in China who have studied abroad at Waseda University.

As for the field of natural sciences, it is quite average and is completely incomparable with the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University.

Today, Waseda University is considered a startup. Although it was founded by a former prime minister, it is not an official university after all, so it is less well-known.

The most important point is that you cannot be directly reused by the country after graduation.

Unlike the University of Tokyo and others, graduates are highly sought-after talents by the country and can even become officials in the future.

Therefore, the problem raised by Masaharu Takeuchi arises, that Waseda University has relatively few students.

The school cannot offer special discounts to attract more students.

This will create a vicious cycle, which will be very detrimental to the development of the school in the long run.

Li Qiwei can relate to this.

In later generations, there were many private universities in China, but almost none of them were famous.

Is it that these schools do not have sufficient funding or their teachers are not authoritative enough?

Neither, it’s just that students don’t trust them!
What do students want from going to college? Except for a small number of people who truly love knowledge, most of them just go for a diploma.

It's ridiculous that there is no law that requires students to go to college to solve difficult scientific problems.

There is nothing wrong with this in itself.

Therefore, what most students are most concerned about is whether they can successfully obtain their diploma.

What if a private university goes bankrupt? What if the boss gets arrested?

Everyone always has such concerns.

But it is different in public universities. Students know that no matter what happens, the government will provide a guarantee in the end.

Therefore, when given a choice, more people will definitely choose public universities first, and only consider private universities as a last resort.

The situation is similar in the Sakura Country today. The Imperial University, which was built with great efforts from the entire country, is a role model.

With diplomas from these universities, you can be proud of yourself when you graduate.

But if you graduated from Waseda University, people might first ask you, "Did you major in rice cultivation?"

However, strangely, in Europe and the United States, especially in the United States, the situation is the opposite.

Private universities in the United States are often better than public universities and are not discriminated against.

For example, Harvard University, Stanford University, Yale University, Columbia University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, Princeton University, etc.

They are all private universities that became extremely powerful in later generations.

Although these universities are not as well-known as they are in the future, they are still well-known universities internationally.

Between 1872 and 1875, the Qing government sent Chinese students to study in these universities in the United States. After returning, they all became backbones in various fields.

So, why are the same private universities treated differently in Asia and the United States? After thinking about it, Li Qiwei slowly expressed his understanding.

"Professor Takeuchi, your question is very good."

"The university I founded is called Huangpu University of Science and Technology. It is a comprehensive university of science and engineering with a focus on natural sciences."

"It is expected that the first batch of students will enroll in September this year."

"Like Waseda University, Huangpu University of Science and Technology also encountered the problem of difficulty in recruiting students."

“So far, the school has enrolled about 50 students.”

"For a country as large as 4 million people, this is really insignificant."

"Even though I have the title of Imperial Tutor and am even a Nobel Prize winner in Physics, my appeal is still not as good as that of Imperial University."

"Because in the minds of ordinary people in the country, they still have the inertia of thinking."

"I think the so-called universities are just a cover, and the essence is still the imperial examination system."

"In the future, the imperial court will select officials from universities."

"Today's universities are what the Imperial College used to be."

"So under these circumstances, it is difficult for Huangpu Polytechnic University to recruit more students."

After Li Qiwei finished speaking, Takeuchi Masaharu nodded in agreement, obviously it touched his heart.

Even Nagaoka Hantaro nodded in thought.

It turns out that even with Li Qiwei's lofty status, it is so difficult to get things done.

It can be seen that the great figures in history encountered unimaginable difficulties in the process of achieving great achievements.

Even the best among men have such a hard time, so how can ordinary people like us complain about the unfairness of fate?

However, Li Qiwei did not feel disappointed. Instead, he changed the subject and said excitedly, "But I don't think this will be the norm."

"You should know that in Europe and America, private universities have the same status as public universities."

"And many outstanding students tend to prefer to go to private universities."

“This is because private universities have greater flexibility in teaching compared to public universities.”

“What is most needed for academic research is to be free of constraints and allow students to give full play to their wild imagination.”

"The most important point is that private universities can teach students according to their aptitude and not treat them in a rigid way."

"For example, in some private universities in the United States, even if a student fails many courses, as long as he has special talents in a certain area, the school will give him special treatment and allow him to graduate."

“So some paranoid geniuses often appear in private universities.”

“The results they create, in turn, benefit private universities and earn them high academic reputations.”

"This is more difficult to implement in public universities, as it can easily lead to abuse of power."

"Because the system of public universities is officially stipulated, the power of the president is extremely limited."

"So I think private universities have incomparable advantages over public universities."

"Although there are various difficulties for the time being, as long as we work hard to improve our courses and teaching standards, we will be able to accumulate enough fame sooner or later."

“Private universities must have their own unique characteristics and must not be too ordinary and mediocre.”

“Sometimes, you can even be bolder in your teaching methods, be informal and innovative.”

“It took hundreds of years for universities in Europe and America to develop to their current level.”

"And higher education in Asia is just starting out, so it's normal to have difficulties in the early stages."

"But I believe that as long as we persist, we will be no worse than the Europeans and Americans."

Li Qiwei's passionate words almost made Takeuchi Masaharu lose his composure, he was really too excited.

If someone told him this, he would definitely sneer and think that the other person was talking nonsense. How could Europe and the United States be the same as Asia?

But this is what Li Qiwei said, so it’s different.

Who are they?

Imperial tutor of the Qing Emperor, helmsman of Qing education, Nobel Prize winner in physics, PhD from Cambridge University, and president of public and private universities.

Any of these identities is unattainable for ordinary people and belongs to the elite among the elites of a country.

For a big boss like this, every word he says must have profound meaning.

Masaharu Takeuchi carefully recorded several methods suggested by Li Qiwei, such as teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, innovative curriculum, etc.

After he returns, he will definitely report this matter to the president of Waseda University and try these plans to allow Waseda University to catch up with the University of Tokyo.

One day in the future, it may even surpass those imperial universities.

Li Qiwei looked at Takeuchi Masaharu's expression and knew that the other party must be treating his words as a treasure.

Unfortunately, he was going to be disappointed.

Because Li Qiwei had one last sentence to say: In this life, because of my existence, only Chinese universities in Asia can surpass Europe and the United States.

Li Qiwei believed that he could siphon all the talents by himself.

Sakura Country could only follow him and drink some of the leftover soup.

Li Qiwei wants to turn the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, and Waseda University into universities specializing in pig farming.

People only know about Whampoa Institute of Technology and Imperial University of Peking, but have never heard of the University of Tokyo.

He wants to make Chinese universities stand at the top of the world.

(End of this chapter)