By Delaney Newhouse | Focus Editor
Business students piled into a conference room at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation to begin taking their first steps toward studying abroad. Representatives from the McBride Center of International Business joined with faculty members to present the business programs available to Baylor students in various countries during the 2025-2026 school year, including summer 2025 programs of various lengths.
The deadline to apply for these summer programs as well as the fall program in Maastricht is March 1, and a $1,000 commitment fee is due March 15. Dr. Christina Iluzada, assistant director of the McBride Center of International Business and global learning coordinator, urged students to hurry as the final deadline to apply was quickly approaching.
“We just have a few spots left in each of these programs,” Iluzada said.
Business or pre-business students can apply for scholarships such as the McBride Abroad Scholarship or the university-wide Goodrich Scholarship to alleviate the cost of learning overseas. Students graduating early can also transfer aid that may otherwise go unused in their final semester to allow themselves the opportunity to go abroad.
“You can take that last semester of scholarships and aid and you can put it toward a semester of study abroad,” Iluzada said.
Faculty directors of other programs advertised for their individual trips abroad, advising students whether they would be traveling for a month or an entire semester.
Dr. Ann Mirabito, associate professor of marketing, will lead the fall semester trip to Maastricht, Netherlands. Mirabito emphasized the numerous travel opportunities her students often took advantage of on the program by purchasing Eurail passes.
“The students that I talked to, last fall, some of them went to seven other countries while they were there,” she said. “Others went to 13, and others went to 15 countries.”
Dr. Dawn Carlson, H.R. Gibson Chair of Organizational Development and director of the McBride Center of International Business, presented several programs including summer programs in Singapore and Iceland.
Though she was not leading the trip to Iceland this year, Carlson said that students may feel encouraged to choose it because it was the shortest trip available, with only a single class during a nine day period.
“It’s a really great program for people to do if they already have stuff,” she said.
Other professors discussed programs in Dublin, London and Asia as well as internship opportunities in Asia, Europe and Dublin. Internships will last between four and eight weeks.
Michael Rodriguez, accounting clinical assistant professor, and Dr. Sara Perry, professor of management, informed students about the many trips they could take to visit businesses in Sydney as part of the course Perry would teach.
“The chief operating officer of Brevel is a Baylor alum,” Rodriguez said. “They make these really fun kettles and toaster ovens and things, and we’ll be able to go see their work.”
Iluzada closed the meeting by allowing for questions after reminding students of the final steps they must complete before heading overseas: students need to fill out an application, attend an informational meeting at 3:45 p.m. on Monday or Tuesday, or at 10:45 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday at room 324 in the Sid Richardson building, complete a peer advising session and ensure their passport is updated.
