• Under DePaul's strategic plan, VISION twenty12, DePaul’s International Programs Office (IPO) was created in 2006 as an umbrella organization that coordinates and support international programs across the university’s nine colleges and schools. IPO oversees DePaul’s study abroad programs, the English Language Academy for international students seeking to improve their language skills and the international student admissions department.  It also supports the administration of overseas degree programs which are administered by individual colleges and schools.

Study Abroad Programs

• The mission of DePaul’s Study Abroad Program is to nurture the global awareness of students, faculty and staff across the university by providing quality educational experiences in other countries.

• During the 2008-2009 academic year, DePaul will sponsor 42 study abroad programs in 27 countries. More than 600 students and 41 faculty members will participate in these activities, which include short term (two to three weeks) and long-term (10 weeks or more) study. Programs are offered through study abroad partnerships with DePaul’s schools and colleges and with universities and language schools around the world.

• In 2008-2009 the Study Abroad Program will operate seven quarter-long student programs that focus on cultural immersion and language acquisition. These faculty-led programs complement DePaul's curricula and offered students the opportunity to study under the guidance of experienced faculty members in Budapest, Hungary; Dublin, Ireland; Madrid, Spain; Paris; Rome; Mérida, Mexico; and Leuven, Belgium.

• The Study Abroad Program will operate seven programs of 10 weeks or more involving direct enrollment at host universities in 2008-2009. These programs are offered in Australia with Monash University; Germany with Universität Bonn; Hungary with Corvinus University of Budapest; Italy with the Center for Italian Language and Cultures Studies in Rome; Japan with Kansai Gaidai University in Hirakata, Osaka, Japan, Mexico with Autonomous University of the Yucatan; and the United Kingdom with University of Sheffield.

• Nine term-long programs with affiliated institutions also will be offered by DePaul for 2008-2009. These diverse offerings include programs in Greece with College Year in Athens; Ireland with the Institute of Public Administration; China with Syracuse University; Poland with University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point; Belgium with Louvain Institute for Ireland in Europe; and France with the Institute for the International Education of Students; and both Spain and the United Kingdom through Cultural Experiences Abroad.

• Between 15 and 20 two-to-three-week study abroad opportunities are offered annually by the Study Abroad Program, in addition to those offered independently by individual colleges and schools. Two faculty members serve as field directors, taking advantage of their expertise in a given geographical and theoretical area of study. Programs are built around relationships with educational institutions abroad. Students will participate in short-term programs in the following countries in 2008-2009: Argentina, Bahamas, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Ghana, Japan, Kenya, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, The Netherlands, Russia and South Africa.

• During the 2008-2009 academic year, DePaul Study Abroad will offer international internships that provide a wide range of work experience in a variety of fields through host universities in Dublin, Ireland; Hong King; London; Madrid, Spain; and Leuven, Belgium, and Merida, Mexico

• DePaul offers a summer intensive language program for students interested in learning Arabic.  Students may study in Morocco at the Arabic Language Institute in Fez, with courses offered at all levels and no language prerequisites are required.

• The Driehaus Center for International Business at DePaul's College of Commerce sponsors at least four short-term study abroad seminars annually for its students, who gain a real-world sense of business practices around the globe through the programs.

• The School for New Learning (SNL), an innovative school offering programs tailored to the needs of adult learners, has organized study abroad for its students since 1993. Student participants are primarily working professionals with an average age of 36. The trips, which span 10 to 15 days, have included four seminars in China, Malta, Thailand, Ireland and South America.

• The College of Law has a faculty and student exchange program with the University College Dublin in Ireland and a faculty exchange with Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

• The School of Education (SOE) offers a three-week summer program  that enables students to examine educational issues in the context of Mexico and study Spanish at La Universidad LaSalle in Mexico City.

Language Studies

• The demand for language studies has increased dramatically at DePaul during the last decade because of growing interest in international business careers and heritage studies.

• DePaul's Department of Modern Languages offers concentrated study in 13 languages: American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Polish, Russian and Spanish.

• DePaul's undergraduate major in Japanese enrolls nearly 300 students each year and is the largest program of its kind in the Midwest.

• The Jewish Studies program prepares students for careers within Jewish organizations and provides proficiency in Hebrew.

• In order to help meet the burgeoning demand for workers proficient in Chinese language and culture, DePaul launched a Chinese Studies major in 2006.

• To jump-start Chinese studies in primary and secondary education settings, DePaul offers a certification program for kindergarten through 12th grade Chinese language teachers, which requires students to complete coursework equivalent to a major in the language. SOE and Modern Languages also offer an Arabic language teacher certificate program.

Overseas Degree Programs

• The Kellstadt Graduate School of Business offers MBA degree programs in Bahrain and Taiwan. Offered in partnership with the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance since 2001, the Bahrain program was the first MBA degree program in the Persian Gulf taught by faculty from an accredited United States business school.  In 2006 Kellstadt and co-sponsor Pan Asia International Education Center launched an MBA program in Taiwan.

• DePaul’s College of Computing and Digital Media offers a computer science master’s degree in Nowy Sacz, Poland through a partnership with WyDsza Szkota Biznesu University.

• SNL expanded its impact internationally in 2005 by offering a master of arts in applied professional studies program to teachers at St. Gabriel's College in Bangkok, Thailand. The program provides teachers the opportunity to design and implement strategies to enable adults and youth to learn well in an intercontinental context.

• In September 2007, DePaul began offering bachelor of arts degrees in Nairobi, Kenya, at Tangaza College. The Catholic College in Eastern Africa is primarily for adult students who are members of Roman Catholic religious orders or workers in social service agencies. All students are graduates of certificate programs at Tangaza College. They study full-time in the same type of curriculum of their counterparts in Chicago.

Other International Initiatives

• The International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI) is at the forefront of contemporary global human rights research, training and advocacy.  Since its founding in 1990, the institute has engaged in human rights training, post-conflict justice programs and large-scale human rights documentation projects throughout the world.  IHRLI conducts scholarly research on human rights, international criminal law and international humanitarian law. The institute also prepares DePaul law students, activists and scholars for careers in human rights through fellowship programs, special courses, internships and research opportunities in Chicago and abroad. IHRLI initiatives have involved human rights issues in Iraq, Afghanistan, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti, among other countries.

• Groups of DePaul students and faculty annually travel to impoverished communities in El Salvador to assist with community service projects, such as day care, elder care and building homes. Individual students are encouraged to conduct research projects in conjunction with local universities in the Central American region as a continuation of their experiences in the program.

• In 2005, DePaul established the Institute for East African Collaboration as part of its initiative to locate service programs in areas of the world that are persistently marginalized economically and socially. The institute's mission is to build the capacity of individuals and organizations to advance the development of East Africa. This mission includes education programs through the schools and media to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS in East Africa; developing leadership for community, faith-based and non-governmental organizations; facilitating experiential learning opportunities for students; and teaching and research opportunities for faculty. 

• SNL forged a distinctive educational collaboration with the University of Free State (UFS) in South Africa in 1998 to help UFS improve academic quality and expand educational access in a nation emerging from apartheid. Modeled after SNL's programs for adult learners, the UFS program is designed for adults who were unable to earn degrees under apartheid. In 2002, the first students graduated from the SNL-inspired UFS program.

• As part of the United Nations' Assistance for Permanent Missions Web sites project, DePaul’s College of Computing and Digital Media has helped establish a system for development, deployment and management of the Web sites of more than 40 countries, including Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Kenya, Lebanon, the Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Myanmar, Panama, Rwanda and Sri Lanka.

• The Office of Mission and Values offers opportunities for members of the DePaul community to deepen their understanding of the university's patron, 17th century French priest St. Vincent de Paul, by hosting biannual Vincentian Heritage study tours to Paris and other areas of France associated with the life and works of St. Vincent.