Like a fine wine, the International Business program at the University of Missouri–St. Louis is improving with age. The program landed its 11th consecutive top 20 ranking by U.S. News & World Report and moved up the list this year.

The magazine’s 2014 “America’s Best Colleges” guidebook named the International Business program at UMSL the 14th best undergraduate international business program. The ranking, released online today, also means UMSL offers the best undergraduate international business program in Missouri. This year’s ranking is up from 15th last year.

“In this era of increased competition, 11 years in the top 20 is a great accomplishment, and our students are the real winners,” said Joseph Rottman, director of the International Business Institute at UMSL. “Since the start of this program, almost 600 students have graduated with International Business degrees from UMSL. Those students have traveled the world, experienced different cultures, taken classes around the globe, met people from different backgrounds and learned how to be effective managers in the new, global economy. All of those activities are supported by our active International Business Advisory Board that funds our many scholarships, our internationally acclaimed faculty and our dedicated staff. It is a real team effort, and we all share in this wonderful accomplishment.”

UMSL’s International Business program began in 1999 as a collaboration between the College of Business Administration and Pierre Laclede Honors College at UMSL. The International Business Institute was formed in 2000 with the goal of continuing to strengthen the international undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

UMSL’s international programs include:

• More than 70 study-abroad programs available in more than 40 countries and a large contingent of students from China, Japan, Europe, Latin America and India
• Annual study tours that lead student groups to locales around the world

In addition, American students have interned at the overseas offices of companies such as Japan Airlines, Emerson Electric and General Motors, while foreign students have interned in the St. Louis area at companies such as Emerson Electric, Silgan Plastics, Novus International and Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

Building on the long-running success of the undergraduate program, the college launched the International Master’s of Business Administration program in 2005. The International MBA program created partnerships with international universities in China, Japan, India, France, Germany, Finland, Mexico and Taiwan. Students enrolled in the two-year graduate program spend the first year studying abroad followed by a summer internship before returning to UMSL for a year.