The University of Massachusetts has announced that it will offer 40 online courses to students in China in the spring of 2009, but there are some hurdles to overcome. The program has not officially been approved by China's Ministry of Education, and college officials who have been through the ministry-approval process say UMass and other colleges may have a long, uneven road ahead. The Ministry has been slowing approvals of foreign higher-education programs in response to concerns about quality and cost. Ministry skepticism of online curricula and lack of an official partnership with a Chinese college are other challenges facing the UMass application.