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Dan Ryan, UNBC’s provost, said a high school could be in place as soon as September 2018, offering B.C. or International Baccalaureate curricula, as well as some Chinese courses. Enrollment would start at 50 to 75 students and could grow to 200.

International students make up about 10 per cent of the campus. Administrators want to double that and the high school would create a “smooth pathway,” Ryan said.

UNBC officials say discussions are ongoing and have not publicly identified the company they are talking to. But the National Post has learned it is an organization that has been running dual Chinese-Canadian curricula schools under the Concord College of Sino-Canada banner for 20 years.

UNBC’s president, Daniel Weeks, was at its Beijing campus recently to announce a $1.2-million scholarship program for international students.

Meanwhile, Kwantlen’s governing board voted in late March to proceed with a high school for its Richmond campus. The plan is to open a school for up to 100 students in Grades 10 to 12 in September.

Kwantlen is partnering with Maple Leaf Educational Systems, the first and largest school system in China to offer a blend of B.C. and Chinese curricula.

Kwantlen administrators say the partnership will enhance the university’s “branding and name awareness” in China and bring in about $400,000 over three years.

But ahead of the vote, Kwantlen’s faculty association wrote to the board saying the deal could be “to the potential detriment of the university’s reputation.”