Starting from a Fake University
Chapter 903 - 498: For the Aerospace Academy (Please Subscribe)_2

Chapter 903: Chapter 498: For the Aerospace Academy (Please Subscribe)_2

It’s just a matter of prioritization.

By now, Ding Yue had already arranged the expansion of the graphene industry.

So today, Ding Yue had to deal with some other matters of the university, such as the allocation of funds.

Before collecting tuition fees for the term, Ding Yue had roughly ten billion yuan available for use, which was originally intended to be entirely invested in the photolithography machine experiment project.

But now it seemed that the photolithography machine experiment project needed to be paused for a while, so there was temporarily no need to invest funds in it.

Moreover, the investment in the photolithography machine experiment project was not to be made all at once, but rather progressively over time.

After freeing up the ten billion yuan, and with the enrollment of more than fifty thousand new students as well as over thirty thousand existing students paying tuition fees,

the total tuition fees collected this year amounted to over twenty billion yuan.

This is the charm of private universities.

High fees!

The more students there are, the more money is made!

Out of the twenty billion yuan of tuition fees, Ding Yue planned to use a few billion yuan as the basic educational expenditure for Mist City Arts and Science University for the upcoming year.

Such as teaching salaries, logistical maintenance, scholarship distributions, and so on.

Although this seemed like a lot, a few billion yuan should be more than sufficient.

That still left twenty billion yuan.

Ding Yue couldn’t possibly gamble the entire twenty billion yuan on expanding the scale of the graphene industry at once; he still had to leave some for the university.

Why leave some for the university?

The reason was simple.

In the next year, who knew which department or major might need money for development?

For instance,

what if the computer science department launched a major project that could benefit the next several years like graphene did? Would Ding Yue invest in it or not?

Or if Professor Yang Kaining initiated a project in life sciences that required funding, how could he not support it?

Keep in mind,

at the time, Ding Yue had personally promised Professor Yang Kaining that no matter what project he researched, he would fully support it!

Therefore,

out of those twenty billion yuan,

Ding Yue planned to set aside half, which was ten billion yuan, as potential funding for various departmental teaching projects that might arise over the coming year.

That left another ten billion yuan, plus the previous ten billion yuan spared.

Twenty billion yuan in funds were intended to be invested in expanding the graphene industry, which should hopefully last until contract negotiations, right?

Once contracts were secured with major manufacturers like Huawei Technology Group, Dami Technology Group, and Penguin New Energy Vehicles, the money would start flowing in endlessly.

By then, the foundational money for establishing the graphene industry would essentially be secured.

This was Ding Yue’s financial planning strategy for the forthcoming year.

In reality,

there would likely be quite a few changes.

Firstly, the sci-fi movie "Wandering Earth" might be released within the year, and if all went well, it should be able to make some money for Mist City Arts and Science University.

Secondly, the production of the medical healthcare robot Big White was underway, and it could generate a substantial profit within a year.

Also, wasn’t Feiyue Animation Studio working on the "Love, Death and Robots" animated series? If it became a hit, it might earn quite a bit of money as well.

How to arrange the university’s funds,

only Ding Yue himself could decide on that matter.

Ding-a-ling!

Suddenly, just as Ding Yue was pondering how to "burn money," his cellphone rang.

Ding Yue glanced at the caller ID, which showed it was a call from Principal Xu Dongcheng.

Principal Xu Dongcheng had a good relationship with Ding Yue, so naturally, he could directly call Ding Yue on his personal cell phone.

"Hello, Principal Xu, what made you think of calling me?"

Ding Yue picked up the call and asked with a smile.

"Of course, I was thinking of you, Principal Ding. How is it going? Mist City Arts and Science University started its new semester, right? I heard that this year you enrolled over 50,000 new students, and together with the returning students, and now with only three grades, you already have over 80,000 people, even more than our Westlight University."

Principal Xu Dongcheng said enviously.

"Hahaha, you flatter me, Principal Xu. Westlight University is doing well, too." Ding Yue replied modestly.

Although Mist City Arts and Science University had a higher number of enrolled students, Westlight University had a significant number as well.

With four grades and graduate students included, Westlight University also had over 50,000 people. It was said that this year Westlight University had enrolled close to 20,000 new students.

"Truth be told, Principal Ding, in previous years, our new student intake at Westlight University was just over 10,000. But this year, since we adopted the advanced management concept from Mist City Arts and Science University, our new student number has reached almost 18,000, nearly 20,000. It’s a significant increase, so I really should thank you, Principal Ding."

Principal Xu Dongcheng said very sincerely.

"You’re too kind, Principal Xu."

Ding Yue still maintained his humility.

"Principal Ding, Mei Jia mentioned that she feels quite comfortable at the school. She didn’t participate in the military training this time, right?"

Principal Xu Dongcheng asked.

"Yes, yes, yes, after consulting with Mist City Central Hospital and Professor Yang Kaining, we decided that Mei Jia should maintain her normal lifestyle. Military training is definitely very physically demanding, and it could affect Mei Jia’s physical condition after her surgery. So, we decided to exempt Mei Jia from the military training this year." Ding Yue explained, "But Mei Jia said that of course, she wouldn’t want to miss out on such a wonderful memory, so if she can’t participate in the military training this year, she will wait until next year. By then, Mei Jia’s health should be fully restored, and she can join the training."

"Okay, we will follow whatever arrangements you make, Principal Ding."

Principal Xu Dongcheng said with a smile, "By the way, Principal Ding, chatting with you here, I almost forgot to mention the actual matter."

"Oh? What’s the matter, Principal Xu? I knew that if you were calling me, there must be something."

Ding Yue reacted and prepared to listen to what Principal Xu Dongcheng had to discuss.

"Here’s the thing, Principal Ding. Last time, didn’t you mention that you wanted to develop other departments and majors in the school, and you talked about the aeronautics and astronautics major, right?"

Principal Xu Dongcheng asked.

Ding Yue immediately recalled such a matter.

He had indeed spoken to Principal Xu Dongcheng about how Mist City Arts and Science University planned to develop various aspects in the future.

For instance, while maintaining the current popular and robust departments, he also wanted to give other departments the opportunity to develop.

Take the College of Forestry and Agriculture, for example.

In the past year, Ding Yue had invested a considerable amount of money and effort into this college.

As for what Principal Xu Dongcheng mentioned about the College of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Ding Yue had indeed considered it.

However, establishing a large-scale development for the College of Aeronautics and Astronautics would be extremely costly, and he had to take it step by step.

But now the aeronautics and astronautics college at Mist City Arts and Science University lacked even the practical teaching equipment, apart from teaching the basic knowledge.

To be precise, a plane!

They ought to get a plane for aeronautics and astronautics students to use for hands-on teaching, right?

"Yes, yes, yes, what about it, Principal Xu? Do you have some good news to tell me?"

Ding Yue immediately asked.

"Of course, there’s good news. If there weren’t any, I wouldn’t make this call to disturb you, Principal Ding, a busy man like yourself."

Principal Xu Dongcheng said with a laugh, "Here’s what’s going on. I have a friend whose airline has a domestic 919 passenger jet that needs to be disposed of because of an engine issue. That is to say, this 919 plane can’t fly, but for a private university like ours, it definitely has educational and research value, don’t you agree?"

"Yes, so you’re saying, Principal Xu... I could buy this domestic 919 passenger jet?"

Ding Yue understood what Principal Xu Dongcheng meant.

And the matter seemed quite appealing.

The College of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Mist City Arts and Science University indeed needed a plane for teaching practical courses and research.