Photo: Webb Chappell
Babson President Kerry Healy
Forbes recently ranked Babson No. 1 on its inaugural list of the “50 Best U.S. Colleges for International Students 2016.” This incredible achievement and honor affirms what Babson has always known: Our global community is among our greatest strengths.
The goal of this first-of-its-kind list, as described by Forbes, is to help guide the decision making of foreign students and their families as they consider education in the United States. Since 2014, Babson has seen international applications increase by more than 50 percent. We are proud to foster a welcoming and inclusive campus environment where students of all nationalities live and learn together and develop a truly global entrepreneurial mindset.
Babson’s Class of 2020 is the most diverse—domestically and internationally—in College history. Twenty-nine percent of first-year students are international, and an additional 10 percent of U.S. students have dual citizenship, which means nearly 40 percent of students have a non-U.S. passport. This multitude of cultures, perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds enhances our campus community and contributes to the innovative and transformative experience that is a hallmark of Babson. We are educating global citizens equipped to tackle the world’s most pressing problems and create great social and economic value everywhere.
Just as students from around the world arrive at Babson every fall, we continue to bring Babson to the world. Babson offers more than 100 study-abroad programs in 40 countries, and nearly half of all undergraduates choose to immerse themselves in another culture by living and learning abroad. Our global engagement extends to high-profile entrepreneurial ecosystem projects, research, and key partnerships worldwide, and our new edX program provides anyone, anywhere, with free online access to select Babson coursework on entrepreneurship.
This March, alumni, faculty, staff, parents, and friends will travel to Bangkok for the third annual Babson Connect: Worldwide, our premier global entrepreneurship summit. Babson Connect: Worldwide is an opportunity for our community and global business leaders to exchange ideas and insights about how we can build a better world through innovation, entrepreneurship, and family enterprise. Following the success of our two summits in Cartagena, Colombia, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, we anticipate a wonderful event for entrepreneurial leaders and business families to connect with and inspire one another.
We also are exploring ways to expand our reach by establishing small-footprint, high-impact Hubs in global gateway cities. Each Babson Hub will have a site-specific selection of our programming, including offerings from the graduate school, executive education, and accelerator programs, such as Babson’s award-winning Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab. Babson Hubs already have proven successful in Boston, San Francisco, and Miami, and we see incredible potential to establish additional Hubs in key locations around the world.
These are just a few examples of the many ways that Babson supports and celebrates our global community. Babson takes great pride in our global network of 40,000 alumni and friends in 114 countries. Fostering and expanding this community is central to our mission of educating entrepreneurs of all kinds and to our vision of making Entrepreneurial Thought & Action accessible to everyone on the planet.