The University of Northern Iowa's business school has established its first foreign alliance to send students from Thailand to Cedar Falls to study, the university said in an announcement. UNI and Bangkok's Assumption University signed an agreement last week to establish a 2+2 program where students would take the first two years of courses at Assumption and complete a business degree at UNI.
The alliance has been under development for nearly two years, the release states, and students in the 2+2 program are anticipated to begin going to UNI in 2026. Established in 1969 as the Assumption School of Business, Assumption University of Thailand is a private, nonprofit institution governed by international Catholic order the Brothers of St. Gabriel.
UNI Global Opportunities Coordinator Chris Schrage instructed graduate courses in marketing management at Assumption for the fall semester 2024, the release said, and nine nations were represented among 40 students she instructed.
We love what they have to offer: the intensity of their classrooms and that they have so many different types of students inquiring about international opportunities when they aren't even from Thailand", Schrage stated in the release.
Under the agreement, the two schools also are developing programs to provide students with international study for brief periods. In a release, Assumption University said this first accord could be the precursor to additional 'shared learning experiences', such as additional student and faculty exchanges and collaborative programming.
Wilson College of Business Associate Dean Mary Connerley stated in the release that the new alliance will provide opportunities for students at both institutions to expand their horizons and global awareness.
"Having international students at UNI exposes our students to other ways of thinking, other cultures and other modes of living", Connerley stated in the release. "We have many students who enjoy traveling on study abroad experiences". We'd like to continue to provide those programs, but we can't make all of our students do that. So I think it's wonderful when we are able to bring more students here with different cultures. That can result in our students making some very strong friendships.
