When Craig Thornburg (MS ’19) decided to broaden his horizons and earn a graduate degree that would allow him to move up in his career, he chose the master of science in international business program at UNC Greensboro’s Bryan School of Business and Economics.
“Attending an online program made it convenient to earn the degree while still working full time,” says Thornburg. He discovered that faculty members are extremely supportive. “The professors understand that students are working adults and never expect students to miss a day at the office,” he says.
“Being able to complete the degree in two semesters was appealing as was the reasonable cost,” says Thornburg. He has been empowered by the knowledge he gained in those two semesters.
“The classes I took are relevant to my career and were needed for achieving my goals,” he says. “The master’s program focuses on the international aspects of business including: the variety of work cultures in different countries; how people around the world communicate; and how other countries and cultures approach business.”
Those are lessons that Thornburg has put to use in his role as senior operations coordinator for Medidata, a job he began in May 2019 while still in graduate school. “I’ve already been to Bulgaria and France for my job,” he says. “I’ve lived in North Carolina all of my life; the master’s program put me in the position to get a job in an international company where travel is a big part of my work, just as I had hoped.”
The program not only facilitated Thornburg making a transition to a career into international business, it helped him more than double his salary from the time he began the program to his graduation from it.
“If you’re thinking about any career in business with an international focus, the Bryan School’s program is going to teach you what to expect in international business and how to approach it,” says Thornburg. “You get a great education in a short period of time, at a great value.”
Michele Lynn
