Drew University and INTO University Partnerships today announced a joint venture to support and enhance international education on campus and greatly expand learning opportunities for international and domestic students. The partnership, formed under the name INTO New York at Drew University, will support Drew’s strategic internationalization goals in several ways:

• Grow and diversify the international student population on campus;
• Establish international educational programs and support services that will expand all students’ social, global and professional engagement; and
• Further build the university’s global reach and reputation.

INTO partners with leading universities in the United States, United Kingdom and Asia to advance each institution’s comprehensive internationalization efforts and expand their global reach and impact. The joint venture with Drew reflects INTO’s commitment to improve global access to quality higher education and to provide students with an increasing breadth of study options.

The partnership comes at a time when record numbers of international students are studying in the United States with more than 800,000 students enrolled in academic year 2012-2013, according to the Institute of International Education. Through INTO’s extensive global recruitment network across 75 countries, the partnership plans to seize this opportunity and grow Drew University’s international student population at an optimal rate. The first cohort of students at INTO New York at Drew University will enroll in academic year 2014-2015.

The INTO New York at Drew University model is unique in that it leverages Drew’s distinctive qualities as a supportive liberal arts institution, offering a small-school environment with a big-world experience less than an hour from midtown Manhattan. Drew’s promise, “We Deliver Full-Impact Learning to the World,” melds a challenging academic curriculum, a global learning culture and extensive New York City experiential opportunities, all of which enable a student’s greatest success.

“The INTO partnership is an exciting venture for the Drew community and helps us build on our longstanding international programs at home and abroad, including launching the first United Nations Semester in the country in 1962,” said Drew President Vivian A. Bull. “Inviting more international undergraduates to join the Drew community offers the rest of the student body the opportunity to learn with, and from, their global peers, giving them an advantage in a highly connected world.”

INTO New York at Drew University will offer international students a unique program in which they complete the first two years of undergraduate academic and English language coursework at Drew. Upon successful completion, students will then be eligible to complete the remaining two years of a degree program at Drew or they may choose to finish their degree at a number of well-known institutions in the New York metropolitan area.

An INTO partnership transforms a campus through broad engagement of the entire university community by creating opportunities for faculty and staff, enhancing the educational experience for domestic students and improving outcomes for international students. Drew University will retain control of all academic aspects of the partnership and its brand.

“Comprehensive internationalization cannot be a ‘one size fits all’ effort. One of the great advantages of the U.S. higher education system is that it is a rich tapestry of models and structures,” said John Sykes, Group Managing Director, INTO University Partnerships. “Smaller, private, well-established liberal arts institutions like Drew have much to offer international students, but may not have the resources to reach them. We are excited to introduce this unique study option to prospective international students while investing in Drew’s efforts to foster global perspectives through comprehensive internationalization.”

Drew University joins other successful INTO partnerships in North America, including Oregon State University, University of South Florida, Colorado State University, Marshall University andGeorge Mason University. Since 2006, INTO has successfully launched partnerships with 19 universities around the world.