To think that the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania excels only in churning out investment bankers and management consultants would be a mistake. In fact, Wharton boasts a truly international program that was ranked #6 in this area in the 2023–2024 U.S. News & World Report MBA specialty rankings.
International students constitute 31% of the school’s Class of 2025 and represent 70 countries, and 4.8% of the school’s 2022 graduates took jobs outside the United States. Students who wish to study international business at Wharton have no shortage of options for doing so, including the following:
- Numerous students study at a partner school each year. One popular option is to leverage Wharton’s alliance with INSEAD by taking classes at one of that program’s campuses in Singapore or Fontainebleau, France. Alternatively, students can choose a semester-long international exchange at one of 19 partner schools in 17 different countries.
- Students who wish to pursue a dual degree in business and international studies can combine a Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies from the Lauder Institute, a 24-month intensive program designed for those who seek to conduct high-level business in a country other than the United States. This program has been described by Bloomberg Businessweek as “arguably the single best global management experience anywhere.”
In contrast to Wharton, whose urban location in Philadelphia might seem ripe with international opportunities, the Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth is located in the quaint town of Hanover, New Hampshire, which has a population of approximately 11,500 and is therefore considered a small college town. However, “Tuckies,” as the school’s students are known, have no shortage of access to global learning opportunities.
Tuckies gain hands-on international experience through the required TuckGO program, which gives second-year students the chance to put their education into practice worldwide. TuckGO options include the experiential Global Insight Expeditions, which allow students to explore new countries while meeting with local community leaders and professionals; term exchanges that take place on four continents; and Field Study in Business, where students work with real companies during an immersive summer experience.
For more information on other defining characteristics of the MBA program at Wharton, Dartmouth Tuck, or one of 16 other top business schools, check out our free mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
