Top Ten Reasons Students Pick CIMBA

Our study abroad and MBA programs are backed by the top-ranked, AACSB-accredited University of Iowa Tippie College of Business, meaning students get high-quality courses recognized the world over.

• Study abroad students can pursue core or elective courses they might otherwise take at their home institution, while staying on track for graduation. Students do not have to be business majors or be from our consortium schools to enroll. We attract students interested in everything from sociology to engineering, graphic design, journalism, communication, and beyond.
• Students can enroll in our Full-time MBA Program and earn an accelerated MBA degree in 11 months; part-time students can earn the degree in 24 months. In the final month, all of our MBA students travel from our Italy campus to the University of Iowa to complete a real-world business simulation course, get an inside look at American companies, and receive their degrees.

It’s difficult to find a study abroad or MBA program as distinct as CIMBA. That’s because we infuse our innovative science-based leadership and personal development curriculum into nearly all of our programs. The curriculum, created through our Leadership Institute, is supported by one of the most comprehensive, highly personalized, one-on-one coaching programs in the U.S. and abroad. Many of our students walk away with certificates in leadership and personal development, problem-solving and decision-making—all of which are valuable knowledge- and resume-builders.

Our campus is at the heart of the small village of Paderno del Grappa in northern Italy at the base of the Italian Alps–just one hour north of Venice. Here, students immerse themselves in a host of cultural and historical activities as part of our comprehensive Cultural Exploration Program. Students can eat dinner with a local family through our Aggiungi un Posto a Tavola (Add a Seat at the Table) program, learn to make pizza and pasta with local restaurant owners, volunteer in the community, play in the popular U.S. vs. Italian student soccer competition, take part in our Italian gourmet dinners and etiquette courses, and hike Mount Grappa with friends and professors.

At CIMBA, we value personal interactions. That’s why our classes are intentionally small. Our study abroad courses have an average 25:1 student to faculty ratio and the rest of our programs have fewer than 18 students in a class. Here, academics come first. As we like to say: “It’s not go abroad. It’s study abroad.” CIMBA study abroad students are required to attend class. If they are not in class, we check on them and provide the support they need to get back on track.

We are just 45 minutes from one of Europe’s leading low-cost airlines, Ryanair, in Treviso. Our programs are designed to give students an unparalleled number of travel days to destinations of their choosing. Students regularly travel to a wide range of countries and cities across Europe.

Our programs draw students from more than 50 countries, including the U.S., China, the Dominican Republic, Korea, Malaysia, and Peru. For more than 20 years, our faculty have taught students from diverse backgrounds with varying levels of expertise in overseas travel and cultural awareness. Our professors come from more than 35 top universities—mostly from our consortium schools in the U.S. Many of them have earned prestigious degrees from universities such as Cornell, Columbia, Duke, Harvard, John Hopkins, the London School of Economics, Oxford, Princeton, and Yale.

CIMBA is located in Italy’s Veneto Region, home to an impressive business community that boasts more than 450,000 companies, including prominent Italian-borne corporations and multinational companies, such as Benetton, Diesel, NorthFace, and Tecnica skiboot. Students visit many of these international businesses through company tours and field trips, and leaders within these companies are often guest speakers in our classrooms.

When students complete their CIMBA experience, they join our family of nearly 10,000 alumni living in 44 countries and working around the world for: companies such as the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, BMW Asia/Pacific, BMGI North America Corporation, Microsoft; Domino’s International, Kraft Foods, and Bridgestone Europe, just to name a few. Our alumni often contact CIMBA to find qualified candidates for jobs and internships.

We understand studying overseas can be expensive. That’s why we pride ourselves on having no hidden costs. The price study abroad students see for their program includes tuition, room and board, dining services, laundry, a twice-weekly cleaning service, and more. Airfare and personal travel are separate, but our staff can advise students on how to find the best fares. Financial aid and scholarships are also available for all of CIMBA’s programs.

Our staff in the U.S. and Italy support students before, during, and after their experience abroad. Before students leave, they receive personal guidance in gathering the type of documentation their home institution/advisor may request to ensure credit approval. They’ll also receive step-by-step, pre-departure instructions related to passports, visas, scholarship opportunities, insurance, and packing. We also connect them to live chats with CIMBA alumni and staff in the months before they leave. While they’re at CIMBA, they will have access to a full-time student life staff that prides itself on providing one-on-one support related to issues such as travel, health care, culture, logistics, language, housing, clubs, and student organizations.