The University of South Carolina prides itself on being home to the top-ranked undergraduate international business program in the U.S.--a title it has held since 1998. Admission is competitive. Students apply in the winter of their sophomore year of college for admission the following fall. Admitted students must have a college GPA of at least 3.5, basic foreign language proficiency, demonstrated interest in international issues and leadership experience. Once accepted into the program, students take at least four classes in international business and four classes in advanced foreign language skills. Students are also required to spend one term studying abroad at one of South Carolina's foreign partner universities in countries such as Australia, Finland and Peru. A small number of international business majors are selected in their freshman year for the International Business and Chinese Enterprise program, in which they alternate terms spent taking classes and interning in South Carolina with terms spent learning and working in Hong Kong. After graduation, these students have the option of earning a master's degree in international business at South Carolina in only one additional year of study.
Darla Moore School of Business
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
803-777-7700
mooreschool.sc.edu
Ranked second behind South Carolina, NYU's Stern School of Business prides itself on its global focus--and with good reason. All business students, including international business majors, take a class called Global Business Environment in their sophomore year. This class introduces students to the study of international business and prepares them for the required International Study Project they will undertake in their junior year. In this semester-long project, students spend the first half of the term studying a major corporation in Europe, Asia or South America. During spring break, students travel abroad to visit the company's headquarters and meet with top executives. Upon returning home, students spend the remainder of the semester preparing a final analysis project on the company they have studied and its role in the economy of its home nation. This unique program is fully funded by donors so that all students may participate, regardless of their financial situations. International business majors are also encouraged to spend additional time studying abroad at a foreign university or one of NYU's nine foreign campuses .
NYU Stern Undergraduate College
Tisch Hall, Suite 600
40 West Fourth St.
New York, NY 10012
212-998-0921
w4.stern.nyu.edu/uc/index.cfm
Ranked No. 3 by "U.S. News and World Report," the International Business program at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business allows for plenty of flexibility to meet each student's needs. Students who choose the Global Analysis concentration are required to take at least five semesters of a foreign language. With more than 100 languages available at Penn, there are many options. To complete the one semester study abroad requirement for the Global Analysis concentration, students can study at any of Penn's partner universities in countries such as Israel, Argentina, Italy and Singapore. Students who want additional study-abroad experience can apply to go on a Wharton International Program (WIP) tour. In the WIP program, a group of Wharton students takes a faculty-led tour to visit businesses and attend university lectures in a foreign country. Past WIP trips have included studying socially responsible businesses in Brazil and the fashion industry in Hong Kong.
Wharton Undergraduate Division
Gordon B. Hattersley Suite
G95 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
3730 Walnut St.
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104
215-898-7608
wharton.upenn.edu/undergrad/