The name has changed, but its international educational focus has not.
Last month, Alliant International University’s College of Business Administration changed its name to the United States International College of Business.
Despite the name change, the business school will continue its focus on international and cultural business education.
Alliant International University is the result of a merger between United States International University and Alliant University earlier this year.
The merger will create a budget of more than $50 million and a student enrollment of more than 6,000. Last year, San Francisco-based Alliant University changed its name from California School of Professional Psychology, a graduate school in clinical psychology, which was founded in 1969.
Their combined total will be nine campuses, including USIU’s campuses in Mexico City and Nairobi, Kenya. Other campuses are all in California, including San Diego, Alameda, Fresno, Irvine, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Francisco. The main campus remains at USIU’s Scripps Ranch location.
“This is truly an international school, so we kept the same name,” said Ali Abu-Rahma, assistant dean and assistant professor at USICB.
The business school offers six bachelor of science degrees, three master’s degrees and one doctoral degree.
Master’s degree programs are in business administration, international business administration and organization development.
The doctoral program is in business administration.
USICB is the only school in San Diego County that offers a doctoral degree in business administration, according to Abu-Rahma.
– Multiple Campuses
USICB’s MBA program operates in three locations in San Diego, Mexico City and Nairobi and totals 2,384 students on the campuses as of June. In San Diego, 504 students are enrolled at USICB with 177 students in its MBA program and 51 students in the DBA program.
According to Abu-Rahma, there are students from more than 100 countries participating in the USICB programs.
“We’ve designed our programs based around an international curriculum,” he said. “Our faculty either came from a distant country or have extensive international work experience.”
There are 12 full-time faculty members and 35 adjunct professors at USICB.
In addition, USICB offers a graduate certificate program in strategic management with UCSD’s Extended Studies and Public Programs and a certificate and professional designation as a global logistics specialist with the San Diego Unified Port District and Sony Corp.
Both programs started last year and averaged approximately 20 students per session.
USICB also offers a specialty certificate for the high-tech industry in software project management designed in consultation with the Software Industry Council.
Gonca Delipinar, a marketing MBA candidate planning to graduate this winter, said she was attracted to USICB due to its international focus despite having been accepted to several American colleges. Delipinar, who is from Turkey, said the USICB program gave her a better understanding of other cultures and their personalities.
For example, Delipinar didn’t know anything about Asian cultures until she attended USICB. She now knows there are significant cultural differences between Asian countries such as Japan, South and North Korea and China.
Delipinar also was attracted to USICB because of its small class size. According to Delipinar, there are a lot of crowded classes in Turkey compared to USICB’s classroom size of about 40 students.
“Teachers in large classrooms don’t even know your name, and students barely remember the teachers,” she said. “In less-crowded classrooms, you can ask questions and have classroom presentations which makes it a more personable environment.
“The business world is becoming very global and we need an international perspective,” she said.
– International Flair Attractive
Elain Finley, who is pursuing her second MBA degree, agreed the school is attractive because of its international flair.
“If you go to San Diego State University, most of the students there are San Diegans,” Finley said. “(USICB) is a gold mine for international relationships.”
Finley was born in Japan, but has her American citizenship. Both her bachelor and first master’s degrees are from USIU.
She plans to graduate with the second MBA’s concentration toward information technology by the end of this summer. She would like to work overseas in marketing or information technology.
Approximately 82 percent of the USICB students are international students in the MBA program, and 46 percent of the undergraduates are international as well.
“Aside from living in another culture, you can experience the other cultures by attending school here,” Finley said. “It’s a diamond in the rough of what we have here and I’m glad to be a part of this community.”
