Long Island University's premium education makes for golden opportunities
Long Island University (LIU) is one of the nation's largest private universities, recognised for its commitment to engaged learning and student entrepreneurship. It is fitting that many of LIU's most forward-thinking initiatives to envelop its students in the entrepreneurial mindset are housed on a campus named after America's first entrepreneur: LIU Post, built on the Gold Coast estate of cereal pioneer Charles William Post's daughter and successor, Marjorie Merriweather Post.
With its gilded-age glamour immortalised in F. Scott Fitzgerald's iconic 1925 novel The Great Gatsby, the Gold Coast is the site of stately mansions and lush private estates built by some of America's most historically prominent families. Home to the likes of the Astors, Vanderbilts and Woolworths at the turn of the 20th century, it has earned its place in history and geography as one of the world's most fashionable locations - an iconic landmark of America's wealth and power in close proximity to New York City, the cultural and financial capital of the world.
LIU Post draws upon the resources of the Gold Coast and the Post estate to create the perfect learning environment for fostering academic excellence and professional development, with athletic fields, an equestrian facility, and educational and residential buildings amid the estate's rolling green hills, gardens and Tudor-style mansion.
The Post campus is one of LIU's strategically located educational hubs spanning the New York metropolitan area, including LIU Brooklyn, located in the heart of the Brooklyn Tech Triangle. The university also operates LIU Global, the only college in the world that combines full-time immersion into foreign cultures in eight or more countries on four continents, with structured classroom instruction, field study, internships and community service.
"LIU Post has a proud tradition as a leader in business education," says university president Dr Kimberly Cline. "From the founding of the nation's first School of Professional Accountancy to an AACSB-accredited School of Business ranked among the Princeton Review's 'Best Business Schools', we are constantly planning the next step forward to create the best possible experience for our students."
Global reach, local flavour
Established in 1926, LIU offers more than 500 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and certificates to approximately 18,000 students. Its strategic locations, enmeshed within one of the world's largest and most-developed cities, makes the university an ideal choice for international students looking for a high-quality, competitive educational experience.
"New York is one of the business meccas of the world - we have tremendous financial wealth around the area, but also a wealth of opportunities for students to get jobs later on through our career placement services," says Dr Robert Valli, dean of the College of Management and internationally renowned thought leader on the convergence of higher education, business and technology. "We have an institution that will have global reach and relevance. LIU is a centre of activity and bastion of student engagement. At LIU, people, place and purpose come together to connect with public and private partners and create life-changing opportunities for students and stakeholders alike."
With a record-breaking number of international students having enrolled in American colleges and universities throughout the country during the 2013-14 school year, the prospects look promising for institutions with internationally tailored curricula such as LIU.
Parents and prospective international students can be assured of the university's strong international scope and sterling reputation worldwide. The institution maintains an active network of 200,000 alumni who are leaders of various industries across the globe - including Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio, Vector Group president and CEO Howard Lorber, and Related Group chairman and CEO Jorge Perez.
Apart from the university's safe and accessible location in a premier district, international students are also provided with the support they need to integrate with life abroad. English as a Second Language training and consulting platforms are available, including student holiday programmes designed to immerse foreign students within the local community.
Engaged learning
More than just a scholastic institution dedicated to research and teaching, LIU values the integrated application of classroom education with real-world problem-solving.
"We have a moral and fiscal obligation to enable students to build 'job readiness', an acute sense of agility to adapt in a rapidly evolving technology-based economy," Valli says. "So we look at building a student's job readiness in the eyes of a future employer or a company as a personal franchise going out into the real world."
As part of its efforts to empower students with the skills needed to excel in school and in their professional careers, LIU emphasises a highly student-centric educational approach through its engaged learning programmes introduced to instil self-efficacy and confidence.
Its student-run businesses on campus - such as The Student Body, a fashion boutique, and Browse, an authorised Apple products retailer and all-purpose technology centre - give students the opportunity to gain high-level work experience, preparing themselves for management positions after graduation by learning to run a business while still on campus. Young entrepreneurs are also encouraged to collaborate on business plans and grow ideas into small businesses through the university's hi-tech startup incubator programme. LIU students also gain experience working with clients outside the university through LIU iQ, a system-wide, fee-based, student-led consultancy.
LIU's leadership in creating opportunities on campus complements the university's success in placing students in prestigious internships off campus - including work with the "Big Four" accounting firms, Fortune 500 companies, and leading organisations in every area of the business world.
Other services such as LIU Promise, a student mentoring programme, and a personal-professional development academy focused on helping students position themselves for future success are also available.
"A great university like LIU constantly moves forward, thinking about the next benchmark," Cline says. "The focus is always on our students, and creating new opportunities to prepare them for the challenges of the 21st-century economy."
Contemporary academia
LIU Post's College of Management is internationally accredited through the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) - a prestigious designation awarded to less than 5 per cent of the world's 13,000 business programmes - placing LIU in the elite ranks of higher education.
Listed as one of the "Best Business Schools" by the Princeton Review for 13 consecutive years,
the School of Business will also offer an immersive one-year MBA programme designed for international students interested in gaining in-depth business exposure across the United States, Britain, France and China - from experiencing Wall Street's trading floors to investigating the dynamics of a hedge fund.
The College of Management is also home to the country's first School of Professional Accountancy, a regular source of talent for the "Big Four" accounting firms. In addition, the university's computer science programmes have moved into the College of Management as the heart of the new School of Computer Science, Innovation, and Management Engineering. The move represents one of the first forward-thinking educational programmes of its kind addressing the interconnectedness between Wall Street and Silicon Valley. That connection is also reflected in the lived experience of the College of Management's senior leadership team, who together boast half a century's worth of experience in investment banking spanning global markets. That experience, as LIU advances a new paradigm in business education, is enriched by the university's traditions.
"LIU has the intimacy of a private university with the size of a large public institution," says Valli, who joined the college early this year. "Large business schools have to stay in their lane, but relevance reigns here. We're a technology-based economy, so why shouldn't the College of Management look like a cutting-edge trading floor, or like a revolutionary Silicon Valley company? And so that's what we did here. It's such an exciting time to be at LIU Post."
LIU boasts a strong faculty and an alumni base of pioneering industry leaders - from chief executives at Fortune 500 companies to founders of leading data and technology firms. The College of Management will be opening its Centre for Branding and Licensing headed by Beanstalk CEO Michael Stone, a renowned expert in the field responsible for some of the most successful licensing programmes for multinational giants such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and Ford.
Focused on progress and driven by innovation, as proven by its membership in the exclusive Innovation Immersion Program, the College of Management offers a technology-driven, thorough business education promising the competitive edge students need to thrive in the 21st-century global marketplace.
Global collaboration
As an establishment of high-calibre global education, LIU invites partnerships with universities and institutions in Asia for holistic and mutually beneficial student or faculty exchange programmes and research collaborations. The university has also started developing international relationships with consulates in its quest to enhance its global reach, and views itself as a potential bridge for public-private partnerships across different countries and industries.
"LIU's focus on asymmetric alliances with Asia's premier science and technology universities gives LIU extraordinary global reach, relevance and respect," Valli says. "In essence, our renowned faculty and proximity to New York uniquely positions LIU as a concierge to serve partner universities that share a collective ambition for advancing innovation and entrepreneurship on a global scale."
With economic growth, urbanisation and rising incomes in developing economies driving an exodus of students pursuing further studies abroad, LIU is an obvious choice for students embarking on their careers or professionals looking to advance further.
"We want to ensure that our students have strong, fulfilling careers," Cline says. "The top five jobs that students will have in the future haven't been invented yet, so the best preparation we can give them is to foster a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship that will allow them to adapt and thrive in a technology-driven economy."
Long Island University: www.liu.edu