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Saint Louis University

Jennifer L. Quesenberry, Study Abroad Coordinator, Office of International Services
Phone: (314) 977-2309
Fax: (314) 977-3412
jquesenb@slu.edu

Nicole Dame, International Admissions, Office of International Services
Phone: (314) 977-2490
Fax: (314) 977-3412
ndame@slu.edu

Laura Gerleman, International Admissions, Office of International Services
Phone: (314) 977-2313
Fax: (314) 977-3412
gerleman@slu.edu

Madrid Campus:

INSTITUTIONAL PROFILE

Total international undergraduate students (FTE): 188

Total international graduate students (FTE): 169

Countries of Origin for International Students:
Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Belgium, Belize, Bhutan, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, China, Colombia, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Haiti, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe

INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER/SERVICE/IMMERSION PROGRAMS

STUDY ABROAD
 
Undergraduate and Graduate

SLU Madrid - Semester, Year-Long, Summer, Various 4-Year Degrees
SLU Beijing - Semester, Year-Long, Summer
SLU Rome - Semester, Year-Long, Summer
SLU El Salvador - Semester, Summer
SLU Lyon, France - Year-Long
SLU Poitiers, France - Semester, Year-Long
SLU Heidelberg, Germany - Semester, Year-Long, Summer
SLU Brussels - Semester, Year-Long, Summer
SLU Australia - Semester, Year-Long, Summer
SLU London - Semester, Year-Long, Summer
SLU Ireland, Semester, Year-Long
SLU Chile - Semester
SLU Mexico - Semester, Year-Long, Summer
SLU Ecuador - Semester
SLU Korea - Semester

Affiliate: Rome Loyola University Chicago), Beijing (Loyola University Chicago), El Salvador (Santa Clara University), Lyon & Poitiers (Oregon University System), Heidelberg (Heidelberg College)

Non-Institutional: IES Abroad and CIEE

Institution's own programs: Saint Louis University - Madrid Campus, SLU London, SLU Brussels, SLU Australia, SLU Chile, SLU Mexico, SLU Ecuador, SLU Ireland

Established in the late 1960s, our campus in Madrid is the oldest U.S. University in Spain and the first U.S.-based University to have its own free-standing campus in Europe. As the Madrid campus is fully dependent on our home campus in St. Louis, Missouri, the same academic goals and values - with a distinctive international dimension - apply there as in St. Louis.

Some 30 years ago an informal study abroad link took form. Then, as the program grew, and as demographic and economic conditions in Spain changed, the program evolved into a small campus, where Spanish students could begin their undergraduate careers and where U.S. students could spend a semester or two in Spain. The rest is history.

As are two other important items. In 1992, Saint Louis University completed the purchase and renovation of two historic buildings. Physically, the campus never looked better. And in 1996, our campus in Madrid was the first to be recognized by the provincial higher education authority. This coincided with the recruitment and integration of students from all over the world.

What distinguishes our campus from virtually any U.S. university in Europe (or anywhere abroad, for that matter), is the diversity of our student body. Study abroad programs typically cater to U.S. students visiting for a semester or for a year; small U.S. universities abroad typically cater to host country nationals, or to students from around the world (Americans included) with a small percentage of host country nationals. Our campus has a fairly equal contingent of Spaniards and U.S. citizens, as well as a strong student cohort from other countries in Europe (West and East), Latin America and North Africa.

If you've read the short historical sketch of our campus, you'll see that our Madrid campus sort of evolved over time, which is, by the way, how most U.S. universities located abroad came to be. (The older and most established ones were schools founded by missionaries of one faith or another that then became full-fledged institutions in their host countries.) So why does a university located on the banks of the Mississippi maintain a campus in Madrid?
 
U.S. universities are increasingly looking to establish links abroad to promote and prove their commitment to "international education" - whatever that means these days. The advantage, though, of our campus in Madrid is that it wasn't created for that purpose! Meaning, therefore, that you have access to a most unusual environment, perhaps the most "international" of any U.S. university anywhere, but without the excess baggage of a branch campus created to "internationalize" the home campus. Our campus is international by its very nature, not merely because the home campus is seeking to expand its offering abroad, but because interesting students from all over the world find the Madrid / St. Louis undergraduate program most attractive.
 
The Madrid campus facility, unquestionably the best in Madrid of any U.S. program, and far beyond the standard for study abroad programs anywhere, allows interesting exchanges to take place that normally wouldn't happen. For example, the School of Business on the home campus sends faculty over to teach two-week intensive MBA courses in late May and June; the law school offers courses for first-year law students from the middle of May through the end of June; a faculty member from the communications department traditionally teaches one elective course during the first summer session; and so on. It's not so much a question of internationalizing the curriculum, as it is in globalizing the approach to learning. That can really only happen effectively abroad.

This kind of interchange enhances the links between the two campuses, providing, as well, a unique environment to learn and think about the global dimensions of what are often thought to be fairly U.S.-centered course offerings.
 
A Jesuit, Catholic university education is, by definition, and in practice, universal. Jesuit high schools and universities are found throughout the world. It makes sense, then, that a Jesuit university education would provide a global vision, as well.

It's a terrific feeder of outstanding international students to undergraduate and graduate programs on the home campus. (And you thought we wouldn't be honest, eh?) That top international students from all over the world can spend at least one-half of their careers at our campus in Madrid, learn one of the world's most important languages, and pay a reduced tuition; there is an attractive package. To pay four years of private U.S. university tuition is beyond the dreams of many terrific students from lower- and middle-income countries. Our Madrid campus gives these whizzes a chance, which is also most consistent with the mission of a Jesuit university.

Study Abroad Logistics:

Requirements for studying abroad: 3.0 GPA for Madrid. Other Programs require a GPA of 2.5-3.0.

Financial aid available: Students may take all of their financial aid with them (except for any housing-specific scholarships) to any SLU-approved program.

Other student services available: International Orientation, International Welcome Reception, International Travel Insurance, Airport Pickups, Housing, Group Flight, ISIC Cards, Visa Processing and Passport Photos

Other Information to Note: There is a pre-departure orientation as well as an optional pre-departure course for students intending to go abroad. When the students come back, we have an optional re-entry course the students can enroll. Most students, upon return, will participate in panels, info sessions, class presentations, etc. and I do take advantage of their offer.

Languages available/ Language requirements: Spanish, French, Italian, German, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese, Hindu, Greek, Latin and ESL

Institutes or Centers promoting global awareness:

FACULTY EXCHANGE/COOPERATIVE RESEARCH

Country: Germany

Project Focus: Philosophy; Every year, one faculty from each institution conducts a graduate seminar at the other institution. Two students from Frankfurt, undergraduates and graduates, spend a semester at SLU. In exchange, two students from SLU, usually graduate students, study for a semester at Frankfurt.