The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia has formally approved the University of Virginia’s newest graduate-level business program: the innovative, internationally immersive M.S. in Global Commerce program.

Offered by UVA’s McIntire School of Commerce in partnership with two renowned business schools – ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Spain, and Lingnan (University) College at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China – the one-year program will allow students to earn an M.S. in Global Commerce from the McIntire School, an M.S. in Global Strategic Management from ESADE and a certificate in International Management from Lingnan.

The first class of approximately 60 students – 20 each from the Americas, Europe and Asia – will matriculate this fall and will study as a cohort at the three schools.

“McIntire’s new M.S. in Global Commerce program allows students to study together on three continents and receive two master’s degrees and a certificate from three leading business schools in one integrated educational experience,” McIntire Dean Carl Zeithaml said. “It marks a critically important step forward in providing a new generation of business leaders with the skills, perspectives and experiences they need to meet the challenges of today’s demanding global business environment.”

From Business to Global Business

The new program is designed for recent graduates with an undergraduate degree in business, but little or no professional work experience. Students will spend the first 15 weeks of the program at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where coursework will focus on developing skills in global strategic management. They then will spend nine weeks at Lingnan College in Guangzhou, China, studying global financing and operations. The program concludes with 15 weeks at ESADE in Barcelona, where the emphasis of study will be global innovation and alliances.

In addition, by working in teams on an integrative yearlong project, students will explore the complexities of doing business from the North American, European and Asian perspectives while immersed in a highly diverse, multicultural environment.

“McIntire’s unique new M.S. in Global Commerce program offers students the opportunity to develop perhaps the most critical assets in business today: the outlook and competencies critical to getting work done globally and leading in today’s interconnected business world,” Zeithaml said. “We look forward to welcoming our first class of outstanding young businesspeople to this groundbreaking program, as well as to working in close collaboration with our superb partners at ESADE and Lingnan. Together, we will provide our students with a truly world-class educational experience.”