Study abroad adapts to 'business'
With the growing importance of international trade and multinational corporations, study abroad seems a natural for business administration and economics students.
American students today are more job- conscious and less idealistic than their counterparts of a decade ago. Foreign study offerings reflect this return to pragmatism.
Courses in comparative economics, foreign investment, European banking, and the Common Market, in addition to basic accounting and marketing classes, are conducted in English at American study centers around Europe. Visits to European companies are scheduled, and internships are sometimes available.
The bread-and-butter of traditional study- abroad programs -- language, literature, history, and art -- still play a key role in the future businessman's curriculum. The excitement of living and traveling in a foreign land still prevails. But nonliberal arts students tend to be more career-oriented and less interested in the program's cultural side.
Cyril J. H. Taylor, director of the American Institute for Foreign Study of Greenwich, Conn., said, "Students aspiring to a position in the international business world want a course of study that is highly functional."
Students generally enroll in programs that last a semester or academic year. Summer stints run from two to eight weeks. Two- and four-year programs in international business administration also are available.
The costs of a year in Europe parallel the expenses at a private college in the United States. Thus, the outlay for nine months abroad would be about $6, 000, plus air fare.
London, for example, a European financial nucleus and one of the world's three largest cities, becomes home to many Americans concentrating on international business.
Richmond College, a four-year American school with campuses in Central London and the gracious suburb of Richmond, has an enrollment of 400 students from 35 countries. Its division of business administration and economics offers a variety of introductory and advanced courses, from "Basic Principles of Business Law" to "The Economics of Energy" and "Computers in Business."
Richmond juniors and seniors opting for a "career apprenticeship" can work one day a week for an industrial, retail, or advertising firm. No payment is given, but the training program is worth three credits upon preparation of a detailed report.
On a five-week summer program worth five semester credits, Richmond tutors give lectures on the Common Market and comparative political and economic systems in London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Bonn, Luxembourg, Paris, Geneva, Florence, and Rome.
The City University of London, a small British school close to the financial district, offers economics courses for American juniors and seniors and a one-year master's program in management.
Information on Richmond College and the City University is available from AIFS, PO Box 102 Greenwich, Conn. 06830.
Schiller College, an international liberal arts school with campuses throughout Europe, has beefed up its business programs and now offers bachelor's and master's degrees in international business administration.
Schiller's four-year program starts with a year at the Strasbourg study center in France, with freshman courses in economics, English composition, psychology, sociology, and French language. The next three years are spent at Schiller centers in Heidelberg, Madrid, and London.
Though courses are taught in English, the study of at least one language is required. A graduate-studies program leading to the MBA in international business is conducted over three semesters in Paris or London or both. Also available are a two-year Associate of Business Administration degree program and a six-week summer session in Paris for graduate students.
A 1980-81 catalog may be obtained from: Schiller College, 3207 North 19th Street, Arlington, Va. 22201.
The Institute of European Studies offers a one-year business program in Vienna, strategically situated between East and West. Traineeships at international firms in Vienna are arranged. A six-week summer program also features a practical internship for 10 hours a week. English is the language of instruction. Write the institute at 700 North Rush Street, Chicago, Ill. 60611.
Semester programs in the Netherlands are sponsored by the Division of International Programs Abroad, Syracuse University, 335 Comstock Avenue, Syracuse, N.Y. 13210; Office of Overseas Study, 108 Center for International Programs, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich. 48824.
