IE University Boldly Bets On A New York City Campus As Others Retrench

On a quiet street in New York’s SoHo neighborhood, a Spanish university is doing what no other institution in higher education would dare right now. IE University, based in Madrid, has opened up a new graduate school largely for international students.

It is a bold bet at a time when most universities are retrenching, cutting or freezing budgets and laying off faculty and staff. And it is a courageous investment at a time when the Trump Administration is doing everything it can to discourage international students from coming to the U.S.

The initial $18 million commitment over five years in a New York campus is right out of an entrepreneur’s playbook that tells you to zig when others zag. 

‘MOST YOUNG PEOPLE PREFER AN INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE’

Diego del Alcázar, CEO of IE University, insists that this is exactly the time to “double down.” “It is a challenging time (for higher education) not just in the U.S. but across the world,” he acknowledges. “But it is a good time for this to exchange ideas in a safe space.”

While public policy changes on visas and international students have roiled the U.S. education market, leading to a decline in international applicants to business schools, IE is counting on the desire of young students to study abroad, particularly in as diverse and dynamic a city as New York. At best, the school expects only 10% of the students at IENYC to be American.

“Most of the young people across the world would prefer an international educational experience,” says Manuel Muñiz, provost of IE University and chair of the board of trustees for IE New York College. “Surveys show this to be true. And employers would rather have people that have had some form of international training. There is clearly a thirst for a global education.”

‘NOT A RECIPE FOR EVERYBODY’

While Muñiz concedes that “this is not a recipe for everybody,” he also believes that “we would be making a very big mistake if we stop training for an international mindset. AI will not degrade the value of global experiences and the building of international exposure.”

IE made its decision well before the re-election of Trump, acquiring the former Glasgow Caledonian New York College in 2024. The school enrolled its first class of 31 graduate students in a Master in Business for Social Impact & Sustainability in February. IE added another 30 students in its first intake for a Master of Management program in September. The school was able to procure student visas for all of its first intakes despite some temporary hurdles placed on the process by the Trump Administration.

Some 91% of the current students are from outside the U.S., representing 34 countries. About 60% of them did their undergraduate work at IE University in Spain and are pursuing a 3+1 degree in New York, a central part of the school’s strategy for student recruitment. IE also is building out 1+1 masters’ programs for students who want to earn a master’s degree in Spain and then come to the U.S. campus for a second graduate degree.

FOUR CLASSROOMS WITH 185 STUDENTS EXPECTED NEXT YEAR

The New York location boasts four classrooms on two floors of an eight-story building. Classrooms provide for an intimate learning environment, with between 28 to 42 students per class. IE has recruited 30 adjunct faculty, two full-time professors, and a non-academic staff of 12 persons, including a part-time career advisor. As enrollment grows, so will these numbers.

By September of next year, the school expects to enroll students in three more graduate programs: a Master in Business Analytics & AI, a Master in Finance, and a Master in Strategic & Creative Marketing, Communications & Media. By then, the school expects to have 185 students enrolled in New York.

That’s not all. By the start of the 2029 academic year, IE expects to offer a full-time MBA program as well as an undergraduate degree in business that would bring total student enrollment on the campus to about 350 students.

‘OUR VALUE ADD IS AS A GLOBAL INSTITUTION WITH INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’

The international profile of IE’s students is a core part of the appeal of an educational experience at the university. Roughly 90% of the more than 10,000 students enrolled in IE’s 75 master’s degree programs and 28 bachelor degree options are international, representing 160 nationalities.

“Our value add is not to become a campus with a lot of U.S. students,” says Muñiz. “Our value add is as a global institution with international students. By being here, we are opening a huge door. If you come here you are going to study in a highly rigorous program but with connections to the real world.”

He notes that each graduate program offers capstone projects with corporations that put students in consulting roles that often lead to job opportunities. While the Trump Administration is putting a $100,000 tax on H1B work visas, graduating students in STEM qualified programs can still work in the U.S. for up to three years under the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. 

‘NEW YORK CITY IS PART OF THE SCHOOL’

“New York City is part of the school,” says Lee Norman, dean of IE’s business school and a board member for the new campus. “I envision a new type of education that is about the guts of business. Our students will work with local companies to boost their profits or help make more efficient the operations of an importer of chorizo.”

“We are a global institution,” del Alcázar points out. “We are seeing huge cultural shakes. The is generating huge uncertainty, big polarization, and environmental challenges. But our ambition is huge…and New York is a very ambitious city. It offers unique life experiences to students and it offers a lot of corporate opportunities.”

IE’s zig-while-others-zag strategy has paid off for the school before. In 2021, the school opened a massive 180-meter tall tower campus in Madrid occupying 35 floors filled with 64 classrooms when the pandemic seemed to favor remote learning and work. The place, now filled to capacity, has been a major success. Two years later, IE launched a School of Humanities when rivals were cutting back on the field due to declining interest from students. It, too, has been successful.

Against those two counter-intuitive moves, New York may well be a no-brainer.

DON’T MISS: IE: The Most International Undergraduate Business Experience or IE Opens Its United Nations For Higher Education In Madrid

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