DePaul’s MBA Program in Middle East Country of Bahrain Enrolls Second Class This Fall

For more than a decade, U.S. business schools have been expanding globally by offering a wide range study abroad programs for their American students and opening MBA programs for foreign students taught by their professors in countries around the world. In the days after the Sept. 11 attacks, administrators of these programs were uncertain about their future. But one year later, study abroad and overseas degree programs continue to thrive at many schools.

DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business in Chicago will offer students short-term study abroad seminars to Cuba and Greece this December, and tentative trips to Australia, Chile and Thailand are planned by the school’s Driehaus Center for International Business. The business school’s professors also will continue to fly to Hong Kong, the Czech Republic and Bahrain to teach in the DePaul’s MBA programs abroad. Administrators of the programs monitor world events and State Department travel warnings before scheduling trips, and professors and students are briefed about safety precautions abroad.

Of particular concern last year was the future of the business school’s MBA program in Bahrain, which was launched in the Middle East nation just four days before the Sept. 11 attacks.

“After the attacks, the program’s students and Bahraini officials offered condolences and expressed concern that DePaul would close up shop,” said Roger Baran, director of DePaul’s Asian and Middle East MBA programs. “But after polling the 16 DePaul instructors scheduled to travel to Bahrain to teach in the program, the decision was made to continue.” The progressive, democratic Middle East country has not been the subject of travel warning.

Today, the DePaul is poised to enroll a second Bahrain MBA class in October and will award degrees to the initial class in January. Plans are also underway to expand the program by offering a new master’s degree in economic research.

Baran, a marketing professor who was among the first instructors to fly to Bahrain and teach in the MBA program last year, said DePaul remains committed global educational outreach because it benefits everyone involved. “Teaching worldwide in places such as Bahrain provides our faculty with new perspectives on international business practices that they can incorporate into their courses in Chicago,” he said. “At the same time, there is great need in that area of the world for graduate business programs, especially American MBA programs that are well respected worldwide.”