Almost one-third of international students at IU choose to study business, making up around 16 percent of students in the Kelley School of Business, according to data from the Office of International Services.
International students often choose to study at IU’s business school because of its ranking, said Megan Ray, director of admissions in the business school. The business school was ranked fourth overall among undergraduate business programs, according to the Bloomberg Businessweek 2016 Best Undergraduate Business Programs.
“We’re a population center for international students,” Ray said. “That’s driven by our national rankings.”
A majority of international students coming into the business school have already been at another institution of higher education, like a community college, Ray said.
“Most of our international population is students who have come in and done exceptionally well through the standard admission process,” Ray said. “They’re great students, they work really hard.”
International students must complete an English proficiency exam when they arrive on campus. Ray said international students in the business school have very high standards for English language performance, therefore the material might not be any harder for them than any other student.
Because there isn’t a language barrier, Ray said she thinks in a school as large as the business school, international students may have challenges similar to any other student. These challenges include making new friends and possible cultural differences.
“I would say based on cultural differences, the amount of teamwork in the Kelley school would be the number one challenge,” Ray said.
The top three countries that are represented by international students in the business school are China, South Korea and India. There are also around 30 other countries represented, from Albania to Ukraine, Ray said.
“We are preparing students for a more United States-based business education, and the students that choose to come here get a very well-rounded education in that,” Ray said.
Other fields of study in the top 10 fields of study international students choose include computer science, visual and performing arts and communication, according to data from the Office of International Services. There are 222 international students studying communication.
Amy Yang, a Ph.D. candidate from China in the Media School, received a master’s degree in communication at Boston University, and said she chose to come to IU to study media because of the faculty. She added that other media schools can’t compare to IU. Her studies focus on the culture of communication in the U.S. and how different culture groups communicate with each other, and how they’re consumed by media readers.
“Media is everything now,” Yang said. “Many traditional trading companies have to step into the media world to win in contemporary business competition. Even if you want to build your own business, you have to deal with media issues.”
Yang said compared with media study, international students might like to study business more.
“People have to live, and studying business gives them the power to make a living better and faster than other fields,” Yang said.
