Over winter break, CMU’s business department made the decision to shut down the International Business program. The choice to retire the business concentration came after many years of reportedly low student interest and faculty availability since its establishment in 2019.
CMU’s international business concentration is a specific concentration for the bachelor’s in business administration degree. According to CMU’s undergraduate degrees page for the 2025 academic year, the international business concentration focuses on “international business practices and the opportunities that global markets offer” and “international business to emerging markets.”
This concentration gives students opportunities to travel globally and experience first-hand what their field has to offer, as well as opportunities to develop foreign language competency. Core classes in the concentration included Emerging Markets, International Financial Management and International Commerce Systems.
Department Head of Business, Suzanne Owens-Ott, explained why the business department decided to retire the concentration.
“All other business concentrations have an international business component in some way,” Owens-Ott said.
Since this concentration was established in 2019, Owens-Ott reports there has not been consistent student interest.
“This concentration reached a high in student enrollment with 31 students during the 2022-23 school year, but has since plateaued to only three students currently enrolled for the 2025-26 school year,” Owens-Ott said. “This was ultimately the main factor in making this decision,”
Another factor that contributed was limited faculty to teach specific courses.
“We have had some faculty leave, and that had contributed to this decision as well,” Owens-Ott said. “However, this was a very small factor that played into this decision.”
Although this concentration is shutting down, the business department is working on implementing new opportunities to replace it.
“The department of business is also trying to establish co-curricular opportunities in place of the international business concentration,” Owens-Ott said.
Owens-Ott confirmed that these upcoming opportunities are still in the early phases of planning and budgeting within the business department.
Students who are currently declared as an International Business major will be able to complete their degree but new students will not be allowed to enroll in it.
