USF World News

USF Welcomes Peruvian Partners to Campus

TAMPA, Fla. (October 17, 2018) – When the University of South Florida (USF) first partnered with the Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola (USIL), the goal of the relationship was to provide both Peruvian and American students an understanding of how business practices differ across cultures. Now in its eighth year, the partnership is looking towards the future as the two universities collaborate to identify potential new programs and innovative ways to continue the global relationship.

 In 2011, USF’s Muma College of Business, in partnership with Broward College and USIL, launched the first U.S. AACSB-accredited degree program to be taught in English in South America. This program allows USIL students to earn a USF degree in business administration with concentrations in marketing and international business without leaving Peru. Likewise, stateside students also have the opportunity to obtain two degrees in four years. After receiving an associate’s degree from Broward College, the U.S. students can then earn a USF business degree while studying abroad in Lima, Peru.

To Dr. Ramiro Salas Bravo, USIL president, this endeavor serves to increase the opportunities for students. “We are preparing our students to be world professionals,” says Dr. Salas. “[We want] to increase the possibility of opportunity for our students and for them to have a very open view of the world.”

Global partnerships like this are more important than ever within higher education. “Worldwide, we are living in a new time where we are more connected, and students are now more aware,” says Claudia Rodríguez Ramírez, international relations vice president of USIL. “I believe having these partnerships throughout the world at a university level enables the students to have an international, high-quality environment by which they can understand that there are other ways to solve problems.”

According to Dr. Roger Brindley, USF System vice president, USF World, the key to successful global partnerships is to develop a mutually beneficial and sustainable foundation in which a future can be built upon. “One of the pleasures of working with close partners is that we share values and have a common vision. That is part of the reason why we are so grateful to work with USIL.”