CGB Welcomes Fall International Business Exchange Students

This fall, 18 exchange students from Maryland Smith’s partner universities across eight countries are in College Park for a semester-long study abroad experience.

At the beginning of the fall semester students participated in a series of orientation activities, hosted by the Education Abroad and International Student Services Office, aimed at welcoming them to campus. Throughout their exchange semester, the students will take business and non-business courses while exploring the cultural differences between the U.S. and their home country. On Oct. 8, the students attended a session specific to business students geared to help them learn more about life at Maryland Smith.

“The visiting exchange student program is part of the rich Smith experience,” said Greg Rafal, assistant director at Maryland Smith’s Center for Global Business, which oversees the program. “Students who come to Maryland from abroad are able to study and immerse themselves in a different cultural context, while bringing to the classroom diverse perspectives on business and culture."

Maryland Smith partners with top business schools around the world to provide exchange programs that give undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to enroll in semester-long programs abroad, take a full business course-load in English alongside their host-country counterparts, and earn transfer credit toward their degrees.

This year’s exchange students come from Bayes Business School, Copenhagen Business School, Lund University, Rotterdam School of Management, the School of Economics & Business Administration at the University of Navarra, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, the University of Melbourne, Vienna University of Economics & Business, and WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management.

As Smith welcomes exchange students from around the world, Maryland students are also studying abroad at these institutions as part of the mutual exchange. Participating students gain immersive experiences, academically and culturally. “It’s one of the many ways that students can nurture their global mindset,” Rafal says.

For more information on the BMGT semester exchange programs,  please see the CGB website.