Directly funded by the Chinese Ministry of Education, Zhiyuan College, is the honors college within Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China. It was officially founded in the beginning of 2010, and is the base for SJTU’s Pilot Program – “Training Outstanding Students in the Basic Sciences”, and it was formally incorporated into the Pilot Program of the National Education System Reform in the same year. The top 10% of SJTU students are qualified to apply to join the Pilot Program.

Once admitted by Zhiyuan College, students can choose from eight undergraduate programs including Mathematics, Physics, Life Sciences, Computer Science, Chemistry, and Biomedical Science, Engineering, and Astronomy. Each year, Zhiyuan College admits about 400 students from the best high schools in the country, and it is expected that all graduates of Zhiyuan will perform among the top 5% of students in the world and that most of them will continue on to postgraduate studies.