Young aspiring professionals and returning students seeking a broader understanding of globalization are looking more from school than just accreditation, say academic leaders. "Even in a down economy, our enrollment remains stable, and we expect it to grow as the business climate improves," says Robert Grosse, executive director of Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management.

Thunderbird is the oldest and largest graduate management school in the United States focused solely on preparing international business leaders. The school's unique curriculum is based on the principle that to do business on a global scale, executives must know not only the intricacies of business, but also understand the customs of other countries and be able to communicate with different cultures. More than 33,500 men and women from 136 different countries have graduated from Thunderbird since 1946.

"China is the fastest growing area of interest now," Grosse says, "and Asia as a region remains strong . . . with the exception of Japan." Less robust are Latin America and Europe, although the school has seen a jump in foreign enrollment among Germans and French.

"We really can't explain it," he says, "but there's been a significant rise in students coming from the EU." The fact that tension over U.S. foreign policy continues to exist does not really have an impact on student's goals and behavior, he says. "Like everyone else here, our European students want to gain an understanding of economic and business pressures shaping their world," says Grosse. "This is a place where people from different cultures can be exposed to fresh insight that will help them with their careers later on."

Underscoring that ideal is the fact that Thunderbird has a fairly solid link to the Middle East, principally Jordan. "Queen Noor came to our campus when we dedicated a monument to King Hussein," he recalls. "The Middle East as an area of real opportunity, though, is still struggling. With the exception of oil and petroleum product industries, there is still not much foreign investment there."

CIBER ready

Thunderbird is one of 28 schools comprising The Centers for International Business Education & Research, or CIBER. CIBER was created under the U.S. Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 to increase and promote the nation's capacity for international understanding and economic enterprise.

Administered by the U.S. Department of Education under Title VI, Part B of the Higher Education Act, the CIBER program links the manpower and information needs of U.S. business with the international education, language training and research capabilities of universities across the U.S. Individually, CIBER schools serve as regional resources to businesses, students, academics, and the general public. Together, they form a powerful network focused on improving American competitiveness by providing comprehensive services that help U.S. businesses succeed in global markets.

"All of the CIBER schools are very close-knit," says Cheryl Ryan, director of international programs at the Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University. "We are experiencing growth due to a greater general interest in multiculturalism and global business opportunities."

Key to their mission, says Ryan, are overseas study trips, which acquaint students with other business cultures. "We left with a group to Hungary and the Czech Republic on the first day of the war with Iraq," she recalls. "We considered calling off the trip, but there were no State Department warnings to be aware of. In hindsight, it made the experience much more fulfilling. Our students heard first hand how our perceptions are not shared by everyone in Europe. We gained a real appreciation for how insulated we are in the States."

Being careful, responsible, and respectful to their guides and hosts was essential, says Ryan, and her students avoided some of the usual mistakes made by other American visitors. "We emphasized that we should spend more time listening and less time talking," she says, "and we concentrated on understanding their point of view."

New relevance

Ben Kedia, CIBER director at the University of Memphis, maintains that tomorrow's global managers must develop a "mindset of an integrator." According to Kedia, "A holistic global strategy should create conditions to build an international organization characterized by specialization, interdependency and coordination." The university's Wang Center for International Business is dedicated to bringing that discipline to its students. "Without understanding the needs and expectations of other cultures, we put ourselves at risk of being irrelevant," he says.

Today's business firms compete in a highly charged atmosphere with instant communication, rapidly changing business models and a complex set of relationships. "And they are all fighting to win over the same customers," he says. "A broad-based international education is a major advantage."

Sidebar: Top 100 International Full Time MBA Programs

The rankings, prepared by the London-based Financial Times, are based on 20 criteria covering employment/salaries of graduates, nature of faculty, 'internationalness,' opinions of alumni, and research rating.

1 Wharton
2 Harvard
3 Columbia
4 Stanford
5 Chicago
6 INSEAD
7 London B School
8 New York, Stern
9 Northwestern, Kellogg
10 MIT, Sloan
11 Dartmouth, Tuck
12 Yale
13 IMD
14 Virginia, Darden
15 Duke, Fuqua
15 California Berkeley, Haas
17 Georgetown, McDonough
18 IESE
19 Cornell, Johnson
20 UCLA, Anderson
21 Toronto, Rotman
22 Western Ontario, Ivey
23 Carnegie Mellon
23 North Carolina, Kenan Flagler
25 Michigan
26 Instituto de Empressa
26 York, Schulich
28 Rotterdam
29 Emory, Goizueta
30 Cambridge, Judge
31 S Calif, Marshall
32 Texas Austin, McCombs
33 Maryland, Smith
34 Warwick,
35 Oxford, Said
35 Vanderbilt, Owen
37 McGill
38 Rochester, Simon
39 Ohio State, Fisher
40 Queen's
40 Rice, Jones
40 Calif Irvine
43 Bocconi
44 Manchester B School
45 Indiana, Kelley
45 S Carolina, Moore
47 Purdue, Krannert
48 Penn State, Smeale
49 Illinois Urbana-Champaign
49 Washington, Olin
51 Brigham Young, Marriott
52 Iowa, Tippie
53 Southern Methodist, Cox
54 Cranfield
54 Notre Dame, Mendoza
56 Coll of William and Mary
57 Babson
57 Thunderbird
59 Hong Kong Sci and Tech
60 Michigan State, Broad
60 Virginia Tech, Pamplin
62 Boston
62 HEC
64 Arizona State
64 Case Western
64 Melbourne
64 Wake Forrest, Babcock
68 City, Cass
69 Aus Grad School
69 Texas A & M, Mays
69 Wisconsin-Madison
72 Pittsburgh, Katz
73 Edinburgh
73 Nyenrode
73 British Columbia
76 Tulane, Freeman
77 Chinese U of Hong Kong
78 Helsinki S of Economics
78 Imperial
78 Georgia, Terry
81 Minnesota, Carlson
82 ESCP-EAP
83 ESADE
83 IPADE
85 Bradford/NIMBAS
86 Trinity Dublin
86 Arizona, Eller
88 IAE Argentina
89 Dublin, Smurfit
90 CEIBS
91 Bath
92 ENPC France
93 Calgary Haskayne
93 University of Washington
95 Ashridge
95 Fordham
95 Durham
98 Strathclyde
99 Coopwrad
100 Alberta

Sidebar: CIBER Schools

Brigham Young University
Columbia University
Duke University
Florida International University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Indiana University
Michigan State University
Purdue University
San Diego State University
Temple University
Texas A&M University
The Ohio State University
The University of Texas at Austin
Thunderbird
UCLA
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Colorado at Denver
University of Connecticut
University of Florida
University of Hawaii at Manoa
University of Kansas
University of Memphis
University of Michigan
University of North Carolina
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh
University of South Carolina
University of Southern California
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin