International Programs Mission
Welcome to International Programs at The University of Iowa!
International Programs connects UI students, faculty, staff, and the general public to the world. Our major and certificates we offer in collaboration with CLAS and other UI colleges, as well as our scholarships and programming, offer remarkable opportunities on campus and abroad, generate intellectual excitement, heighten cultural diversity, and give all university constituents access to vital international knowledge.
International Programs catalyzes global knowledge and skills; it provides opportunities for self-knowledge and to better understand others; it positions students as global citizens; and it provides students with the knowledge base and cultural understanding that they need in order to succeed in the 21st-century economy. We open doors for independent spirits, critical thinkers, and global citizens.
International Programs has an ambitious vision for global education at The University of Iowa. Our goal is for every UI student to reach global competence through life-changing experiences, both on and off campus. Global competence is the key to every citizen’s future. It ranges from a basic understanding of global conditions to foreign language proficiency to an ability to function confidently in multiple cultural environments and value systems. Globalization affects every walk of life, from the arts to the health professions, and from business to government. The American Council on Education has recently affirmed that “instilling global competence should be recognized as part of the core education of all American citizens in the 21st century, along with reading, writing, math, science and history.” This is in part because when citizens are able to function confidently in diverse environments and value systems, those abilities become the foundation for the economic and political well-being of the State. Multicultural perspectives and global competencies go hand in hand. Accordingly, internationalization also fosters personal and academic enrichment and provides new perspectives on one’s home country. This is as true for Iowans who travel abroad as it is for our international visitors.
Almost a quarter of all students who leave their home countries to seek higher education abroad end up in the U.S. The University of Iowa currently hosts over 2300 international students form well over 100 countries; and sends over 1200 students abroad every year. Through these exchanges, The University of Iowa has become a university of the 21st century—a university without borders.
To view the International Programs Organizational Chart and/or Functional Chart of Organization, please go to International Programs Chart of Organizational Functions and/or International Programs Organizational Chart.