The University of Navarra School of Economics and Business Administration has signed partnership agreements with two French business schools: ESSEC and EMLYON, which are ranked third and fourth, respectively, in the Eduniversal Business Schools Ranking for France. “We want to bolster our network in Europe with top-rate universities, especially in France and Germany, so our students can improve on a third language,” said Mari Carmen Bielza, the Director of the School’s International Section.

ESSEC, École Supérieure des Sciences Économiques et Commerciales, was founded in Paris in 1907 and is one of the leading business schools in France. In 1973, it moved to the current campus in Cergy-Pontoise, in the Paris suburbs. ESSEC was set up in 1907 by Jesuits from the Institut Catholique de Paris. According to Wikipedia, it is recognized as one of the leading business schools in the world.

EMLYON Business School is an international business school and one of the top Grand Écoles in France. Established in 1872, it is also one of the oldest business schools in the world. It has campuses in Paris, Lyon, Saint-Étienne, Casablanca and Shanghai, a network of 26,000 alumni in 107 countries, and an international, multilingual faculty. It receives about 3,300 students of 80 different nationalities a year.

NAFSA Conference in Denver

In other news, a delegation from the University of Navarra recently attended the international conference organized by the NAFSA Association of International Educators in Denver. The team from the School of Economics and Business Administration met with representatives from some of the 109 partner universities and negotiated agreements with future partners. “Outside Europe, we are targeting Australia and New Zealand. There is growing interest from our students in these locations,” explained Bielza. “They travel to the United States for academic reasons and to Asia for cultural reasons, but Australia and New Zealand combine both interests and receive the highest satisfaction scores on our surveys,” she said. The team also visited the University of Northern Colorado campus, located about an hour’s drive from Denver.

This year, 209 students from the School spent one or both quarters of the academic year at international partner universities and the Pamplona campus welcomed 210 international students.