OGDENSBURG - Officials from a Chinese university will decide in a month if the college will open its first U.S. branch campus at the former Academy at Ivy Ridge here.

But they sounded optimistic after touring the vacant former reform school Thursday morning.

“This is a really good place to run a school,” said Qingdao University Vice President Wang Huanliang through an interpreter.

Qingdao is considering a fall 2013 startup in collaboration with a proposed English as second language school run by businessman James Ma, who bought the property last year.

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