At Babson, the World Becomes Your Home

During the last 10 years, Babson has seen a 103 percent increase in total international undergraduate student enrollment.

Twenty-eight percent of its undergraduate students are international. An additional 11 percent hold dual passports. All in all, students from 83 countries walk Babson’s campus and together speak more than 60 languages.

Because of this, and the true global experience Babson provides, Forbes has named Babson one of the top 10 colleges for international students nationwide.

Home to the Most International Students

According to Forbes’ annual ranking of the 50 Best U.S. Colleges for International Students, Babson offers international students one of the best experiences and opportunities in the United States.

When compared to all other colleges and universities on the list, including Princeton, Yale, MIT, and Harvard, Babson is home to the highest percentage of undergraduate international students.

To develop its list, Forbes measures school quality, based on its Top Colleges rankings’ methodology. Drawing from the federal government’s IPEDS database, Forbes then weighs international students’ six-year graduation rate at 15 percent, and rewards schools with full-need aid or need-blind admission policies for international students.

Additional measures include access to international students’ most popular majors, like business and engineering, the size of a school’s international student body, and the number of foreign-born workers in the area.

Fostering a Global Mindset

In an increasingly global business world, Babson believes it is important to have a student population that reflects international diversity.

Babson students meet and work with peers from many countries, fostering connections and understanding new cultures and perspectives. This appreciation now extends across Babson’s global network of 41,000 alumni from 119 countries.

“Business, now more than ever, transcends country lines. Babson understands that as a top educator of the leaders of tomorrow, we must instill in our students the need to think outside of their national borders. The need to appreciate practices across international markets has never been greater—not only for the good of the economy, but also for the positive, social value it creates,” said Donna Kelley, Babson College professor and Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) U.S. research team lead.

Babson: A Place to Call Home

Babson students are catalysts of change and innovation. Whether they are launching new initiatives, like the Babson India Symposium and Latin American Forum, or joining together in shared beliefs with the Babson Muslim Student Association—they develop an unmatched experience in global citizenship and become uniquely prepared to create positive change in the world.

Each year, a small, highly talented group of international students are awarded need-based, four-year, full-tuition scholarships as part of Babson’s Global Scholars Program. In total, nearly 50 students from more than 30 countries have joined the Babson community since the program’s inception in 2014.

As just one subgroup of a much larger and truly impactful international student population, Global Scholars epitomize the breadth of perspectives embedded in the Babson experience.

Global Scholars Eshwa Azadzoi ’18 from Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Salome Mosehle ’18 from South Africa, started a club and conference called Global Women Empowerment during their first year at Babson. Finding solidarity in the struggles faced by women in their countries, they created an outlet in their new community to help raise awareness.

“Sometimes, especially in my country, change is seen as a negative thing. But you have to change and you have to grow, and [here] . . . I’ve grown so much,” Azadzoi told Babson Magazine in 2015.

“Small-Town School with a Big-World Feel”

Babson is continually recognized for its efforts in integrating international education throughout all facets of the student experience.

The College was recently awarded the Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization, the most prestigious award for excellence from NAFSA: Association of International Educators.

Babson was recognized for this achievement at a Presidential Panel in Washington, D.C., where winning institutions gathered to discuss the importance of global efforts in higher education.

“Babson’s expansive community works shoulder to shoulder to integrate international dimensions into everything we do,” added Amir Reza, dean of the Babson Academy for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurial Learning, and Global Education at Babson College. “The result? A network of global Babson citizens who value, and put to use, the unique experience they gained from a small-town school with a big-world feel.”

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