CIMBA History

In 1985, the Consortium of Universities for International Studies was formed as a mechanism to provide international experience to business professors. Several years later, CIMBA was formed as a subset of the larger consortium. Since 1991, CIMBA has been dedicated to the international learning environment. With Clemson University as its degree-granting institution, the first MBA class graduated in 1991. In 1995, the Consortium recognized the need to assist students studying at US institutions with internationalization efforts and began its summer graduate study abroad program. Two years later, the Consortium expanded and created offerings for undergraduate students. As the programs continued and grew successfully, it exposed a greater need for more undergraduate programs and course offerings outside of business.

In 1999, the University of Kansas became the degree-granting university for the Consortium. The Consortium offered its first semester-long program for undergraduate students in the spring 2000 semester. In fall 2000, it began to offer both journalism and communication courses to undergraduate students. The programs continue to grow and thrive with more than 1,200 MBA graduates around the world and approximately 700 study abroad students attending our programs each year.