Universidad Andrés Bello signs strategic alliance with Arizona State University to strengthen international experience for its students

It is projected that, in the next five years, more than 20 thousand students of Universidad Andrés Bello will benefit from the strategic alliance signed between this university and Arizona State University (ASU), a prestigious American state university, a leader in innovation in that country and ranked among the top 1% of universities worldwide.

This is the first time that Arizona State University has signed an alliance of this type with a Chilean university and the first time that UNAB has signed an agreement of this magnitude with a foreign university.

«We are very excited about this strategic alliance that seeks, among other things, to give our students from different careers a real international experience with a prestigious international university that will work alongside UNAB in developing joint programs and projects. It is a broad and cross-cutting agreement that, over time, will deepen and address from undergraduate to graduate level, also having a strong collaboration component in research and innovation,» said UNAB President Julio Castro.

Photo | Archive, Arizona University Campus, United States 2023.

«Our comprehensive partnership with Universidad Andrés Bello amplifies our shared commitment to excellence, innovation, and the belief that everyone, everywhere, should have access to a world-class education. Universities are engines of social and global transformation, and we are honored to collaborate with UNAB to foster educational excellence for generations of Chilean students and make a significant impact in the region,» said Nancy Gonzalez, Provost of Arizona State University.

Specifically, this agreement – implemented progressively- will have a solid academic component by incorporating subjects co-taught by ASU professors for different programs and careers at UNAB and the joint development of online undergraduate and graduate programs, double degrees, and continuing education programs.

In this way, it is expected that by 2028, more than 17 thousand UNAB students will have taken a course co-taught by ASU professors, thus enriching international experience.

In addition, professors from Chilean universities will participate in academic initiatives there.

This alliance is in addition to the more than 340 agreements that UNAB has with prestigious foreign universities, whose objective is to strengthen internationality in the classroom so that every UNAB student has at least one international experience during their career.

Photo | Members of the steering committee in charge of monitoring the actions framed in the agreement.

«UNAB’s commitment to internationality goes beyond exchange programs, but how we incorporate mechanisms that allow more students to live international experiences in the classroom. This, always with the highest levels of quality and with prestigious partners that provide our students with unique experiences,» said UNAB Vice Provost Nicolás Bronfman, adding that international accreditations, both institutional and program accreditations, are also part of this commitment.

Today, Universidad Andrés Bello is accredited in Chile at the level of excellence by the National Accreditation Commission (6 years, in all areas) and is internationally accredited by the U.S. agency Middle States Commission on Higher Education for the maximum period (8 years). In addition to this, its Internal Quality Assurance System has been certified by the Spanish agency ANECA, and various foreign agencies have accredited its faculties and careers.

Continuing education and research

Arizona State University is recognized for its trajectory, academic quality, and focus on research and innovation. It has been No. 1 in innovation in the U.S. for nine consecutive years, according to U.S. News & World Report (2016-2024), in addition to being ranked among the top 150 universities in the world in the Shanghai Ranking 2023. In addition, it is No. 1 in the United States and top 10 worldwide in the Times Higher Education Impact ranking, above universities such as Michigan State, Penn State, and MIT.

Photo: UNAB Sede Concepción.

Hence, research collaboration is another of the highlights of this agreement. In late July, a UNAB delegation headed by its Dean of Research and Doctoral Studies, Carolina Torrealba, visited ASU to outline collaborations in this area.

«The alliance with Arizona State University allows us to collaborate with a university characterized by being disruptive and innovative in the way it approaches research, not only as an activity of academic excellence but also as a central element of transformation concerning global challenges. At ASU, inter-discipline is transversal to all research units, and the concern is to generate an early impact on society with research results,» said the Dean of Research and Doctoral Studies.

«What this collaboration seeks is to open doors between both institutions, co-design and share projects, learn new practices, and connect our research communities to develop, through science, novel proposals for solving the most complex problems that afflict humanity,» he said.

In addition, through the UNAB-ASU alliance, it is expected to develop various programs, both continuing education and undergraduate and postgraduate.

«Arizona State University’s experience in developing online programs is widely recognized. Today, they have more than 65,000 students in this modality and more than 140,000 students in all modalities. Therefore, what we seek is to bring that experience, combine it with ours and with the characteristics of our country, and develop collaborations that aim, with the highest quality, to address a diverse student who needs continuous training and training with international standards to be competitive in an increasingly dynamic and global working world,» explains the UNAB Dean of Continuing Education, Emilio Escobar.