Triple degree World Bachelor in Business program celebrates 10 years

The World Bachelor in Business (WBB) program, a one-of-a-kind collaboration between USC Marshall, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Bocconi, marks its 10-year anniversary in 2023. The highly selective program offers undergraduate students an immersive multi-continent experience through which they'll gain a top-tier business education along with the cultural fluency needed to succeed in international business.

Distinct from an exchange program or a year abroad, the WBB is four years of full immersion. Students from all over the world arrive at USC Marshall for their freshman year, they spend their sophomore year in Hong Kong, and their junior year in Milan. Students choose which school they want to attend for their fourth and final year.

"Each year a select group of versatile students coming from different countries and backgrounds have the opportunity to get together and experience a sort of cultural whirlwind," said Alessandra Casarico, WBB Program Director at Bocconi and Associate Professor of Public Economics. "Every step of this journey opens new doors – including accessing the best internship opportunities on each continent and learning from a multicultural faculty with different teaching styles every year. At the end of the program, our graduates are citizens of a global, interconnected world, with the ability to quickly adapt to and absorb new experiences and apply them to state-of-the-art management methods."

"WBB is unlike any other degree anywhere - it offers an unparalleled experience with limitless opportunities. It is designed to engage globally minded and intellectually curious students in a business curriculum that connects leading edge teaching methods with cultural immersion and real world experiences. WBB students study in three different world class universities, on three different continents, and earn three different degrees, all while exploring diverse cultures and pushing themselves to new limits. WBB is truly a one-of-a-kind program," said Stephen Nason, a professor of business practice and the program director for the program at HKUST.

"What sets WBB students apart, especially as they approach the job market, is their adaptability, maturity, and cultural fluency," said Gerald Giaquinta, a professor of clinical business communication and the academic director for the program at USC. "WBB students are thrown into the regular coursework of very rigorous business programs for a year, conducted in a language they may or may not already speak. We see that employers put a premium on their cultural adaptability."

The WBB is the ground-breaking result of thought leaders who wanted to showcase their schools' commitment to international business learning and innovative undergraduate education.

The program is diverse, with this year's 58 students representing 19 countries. Sixty-six percent of the cohort is female.