Recently, the Ministry of Education issued a notice for the approval of a Sino-foreign cooperative educational project - the undergraduate educational project of music performance between Sias University and the University of Arizona. Out of the 44 Sino-foreign cooperative educational projects approved by the Ministry of Education, Sias University's project was the only music and art project. Sias was also one of just two private universities that earned this approval.

According to the approval from the Ministry of Education, the approved project enrollment will be included in the National General Higher Education Enrollment Plan. Students will be required to participate in the National General Higher Education Unified Entrance Examination and will have to meet the relevant enrollment regulations and requirements. The program at Sias will offer undergraduate education as a Music Performance major. Sias plans to recruit 120 students every year, with a total capacity of 480 students in the 4-year course. It will adopt the "4+0" double degree training mode and international teaching system. The University of Arizona will provide nearly 80% of the core of the course, far higher than the Ministry of Education's requirements of a minimum of one-third of the core of the course. During the period of study, students will have access to high-quality educational resources from both China and the USA and will meet the graduation requirements of both China and the United States. They will obtain an Undergraduate Certificate and Bachelor's Degree of Music Performance from Sias University and a Bachelor's Degree of Music from the University of Arizona.

The program is part of a Sino-US double degree cooperative education project introduced by Henan. The project was launched in 2016. Since the establishment of the cooperative relationship, the two sides have made substantial progress through repeated meetings, negotiations, and efforts in the fields of cooperative education, faculty exchanges, and the construction of teaching resources. The program will be the first Sino-foreign cooperative program to offer an undergraduate Music degree from an American university in China. All the students enrolled in the program will complete their studies at Sias University, and they can obtain degree certificates from the University of Arizona without going abroad.

The success of this project marks a new breakthrough in Sias' operations with regard to the introduction of world-class education resources, in accordance with the law and regulations of the Ministry of Education.

The University of Arizona was founded in 1885 and is known as one of the "public Ivy" universities in the United States. The National Science Foundation (NSF) ranked the University of Arizona 21st among public universities, and its Arts & Humanities disciplines were ranked 11th by Times Higher Education. The university's faculty has included five Nobel laureates and two Pulitzer Prize winners in its history. The Fred Fox School of Music at the University of Arizona was ranked #1 among the top 10 "hidden gem" music schools in 2017.