{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-article-tsx","path":"/primebusinessintheusa","webpackCompilationHash":"fd74fdbb38aa2eda4a30","result":{"data":{"primeArticle":{"headline":"Return on Investment","author":"ALEXIS MUCHNIK","authorbio":"","authoremail":"","authortwitter":"","coverimg":"http://oink.dailybruin.com/packages/prime.businessintheusa/image/1263s4fF0nLv9MoHZszVYCyY8pjNBCgY7/","covercred":"Illustrations by Ella Han","coveralt":"An illustration of colorful characters discussing a graph on the wall in front of them.","articleType":"article","updated":"","content":[{"type":"text","value":"José Tomas Ábalos’ first priority when pursuing a business education was his wife."},{"type":"text","value":"When Ábalos left his home in Chile two years ago with his wife to start his Master of Business Administration program, he felt it was important that his wife – who faced a significant language barrier – had a companion. Ábalos’ wife experienced difficulty in her career as a speech therapist due to the language barrier, so he ensured she was \"secure\" before becoming more involved in his community."},{"type":"text","value":"Once he began his studies at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, Ábalos found a vibrant Chilean community, including several people he knew before he came to Los Angeles. Indeed, Anderson’s full-time Master of Business Administration program had the second-highest enrollment of international students across all UCLA graduate programs in the 2025-26 school year. The Master of Business Analytics and Master of Financial Engineering programs also had the fifth- and seventh-highest enrollment of international students, respectively. The current enrolled full-time MBA students at Anderson include students from 34 countries across six continents. There were 684 international students enrolled in Anderson that year, making up about 30% of the Anderson population and 5% of the total graduate student population at UCLA."},{"type":"text","value":"While students leave Anderson with work experience and a degree with global appeal on their resumes, many believe that the real return on investment for the school is the global connections forged with other students. As Ábalos looks ahead to graduation, connections like these are the ones he and his wife will take with them, no matter where his postgraduate career leads."},{"type":"text","value":"Ábalos chose to come to UCLA because of a strong family connection. Both his father and cousin studied at Anderson, and now he is expected to graduate alongside his brother in the spring. Now in the second and final year of his program, Ábalos’ time at Anderson will be marked by two honors – his MBA and the title of godfather to a fellow Chilean couple’s newborn son."},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"An illustration of a character holding a newborn baby.\",\"url\":\"http://oink.dailybruin.com/packages/prime.businessintheusa/image/114bNKsPDeBBSDfge4Hfb1ua1gNoDU_w3/\",\"credit\":\"Ella Han/Daily Bruin\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Michael Yi, an executive MBA student – a program that allows participants to take classes on weekends while working full-time – said he found a connection to Anderson’s international population through organizations like the Korean Business Student Association, as well as through his connections to other Korean Anderson alumni. KBSA, Yi said, helped him connect with students from different nationalities and ethnicities – not only with other Korean students – through social events."},{"type":"text","value":"He added that KBSA is a larger community within Anderson, connecting students from the full-time MBA, part-time MBA and executive MBA programs. Yi, who previously worked in Korea before immigrating to the United States a decade ago, said executive MBA students tend to be older and, as such, less connected. He joined KBSA to get more students from his program involved on campus and to share his professional experiences with students from other programs."},{"type":"text","value":"Stephen Hung, a full-time MBA student from Taiwan, said as an international student, he is able to offer a perspective different from his peers. For him, an added benefit of Anderson’s high population of international students is being able to hear global perspectives while feeling that he has something valuable to contribute as well. Hung said he felt that it was easier to connect with fellow international students than with local students, especially if they were from countries that shared cultural similarities. Hung added that part of the challenges of forming relationships came from being at a stage in his life where his habits and way of life were already established."},{"type":"text","value":"However, the diversity of Anderson’s connections is rooted in more than just nationality. Simone Kuo, a full-time MBA student from Taiwan, said there are many students at Anderson who are not interested in pursuing business in their post-graduate careers. They are instead attending business school to better learn how to navigate their intended career path – like medicine or engineering."},{"type":"text","value":"For one, Anderson’s proximity to Silicon Valley and the technology industry attracted Pureun Kim, a full-time MBA student from Korea, who previously worked for an autonomous driving company on Korea’s Jeju Island. Later, when she worked in the Bay Area, she felt she had more flexibility and autonomy. Hung, who has an engineering background in both his education and career, was similarly drawn to Anderson’s Silicon Valley connection, in addition to the fame of the school in Taiwan. The nonuniform reasons for coming to Anderson, Kuo added, lead to interesting discussions and out-of-the-box thinking."},{"type":"text","value":"\"They are here for a reason,\" she said. \"They have to know about business – they don’t necessarily have to love business.\""},{"type":"text","value":"Ábalos said Anderson taught him the value of making connections quickly. He found that the key to success at Anderson is being able to build strong relationships and be personable. International students found that there is more of an emphasis on personal connections in the U.S. workplace than they may be used to in their home countries. Kim said the U.S. focuses more on networking in professional experiences than Korea. As a student without an undergraduate degree in business or a related field, Hung said he had a difficult time adjusting to the \"business-people mindset\" of constantly attending social events."},{"type":"text","value":"\"There’s a lot of small talk, coffee chats, a lot of events, happy hours, parties,\" he said. \"If you want, every week you can go to several birthday parties and a lot of happy hours.\""},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"An illustration of colorful characters dancing in front of a blue background.\",\"url\":\"http://oink.dailybruin.com/packages/prime.businessintheusa/image/1ZTQGqAy0ZC2s8wsiUH9iyI9umimRTKA8/\",\"credit\":\"Ella Han/Daily Bruin\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"However, networking doesn’t always lead to results. Kim said international students face added pressure to find a job after graduation if they intend to stay in the U.S. because, if they do not find work, they face the risk of visa termination. Hung said about half the jobs he saw during the recruiting process excluded international students from applying. However, he said Anderson’s Parker Career Management Center offers special workshops for international students."},{"type":"text","value":"The challenges for international graduate students don’t stop at employment."},{"type":"text","value":"When Kim first moved to LA, she moved between different sublets while on the waitlist for university housing, before ultimately moving into her own apartment several months later. The competition for university housing for graduate students, especially international students, is high, Kim said. Further, rent in LA, Kim said, was steep compared to Korea, adding that the cost of living was one of the biggest culture shocks when she first arrived. Navigating LA without a car also proved difficult, she said, adding that she thought it was better to get a car even before she finalized her housing."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"When I’m on campus, I don’t feel like I’m a foreigner or I’m an outsider.\\\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"For Hung, another challenge faced by international students is the distance between them and their families. International students face this challenge in addition to the difficulties all business students face – including needing to be able to pay for business school and the expenses associated with it. However, he said he feels at home in LA. Compared to his friends in small towns, he feels lucky due to the diversity in LA, adding that good Korean food is accessible to him."},{"type":"text","value":"\"When I’m walking on the street or when I’m on campus, I don’t feel like I’m a foreigner or I’m an outsider,\" he said."},{"type":"text","value":"Ábalos said he feels as welcome in LA now as he did when he first moved to California. While traveling internationally, he said he has not had any issues, adding that visa policy changes or the current political climate in the U.S. have not changed his mind about his decision to come to Anderson."},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"An illustration of two characters sitting on a picnic blanket outside of a campus building.\",\"url\":\"http://oink.dailybruin.com/packages/prime.businessintheusa/image/1pIPTNx1YtsGJSZgVVJvY_2VYrQB06OfD/\",\"credit\":\"Ella Han/Daily Bruin\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Although Ábalos’ peers may not feel any differently toward him, international students have faced uncertainty regarding their visa status under the Trump administration. The federal government revoked the visas of at least 19 UCLA students and recent alumni in April 2025. However, the Trump administration announced that it would restore the students’ visas until it developed standard criteria for status termination. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security also proposed a fixed time limit for F-1 visas – the holders of which include international university students – as opposed to the current \"duration of status\" non-fixed limit."},{"type":"text","value":"\"You try very hard to stay here,\" Hung said. \"After one or two years, if any of the regulations or things change, you don’t even know if you can get the visa to stay here.\""},{"type":"text","value":"He said students in the class after him began looking for summer internships internationally more than his graduating class. Hung – who is expecting to graduate this year – added that, while he still intends to stay in the U.S., he was considering a job offer from a Taiwanese company. To be able to stay in the U.S., Hung said the company may have to offer him more to justify staying."},{"type":"text","value":"For Kim, however, the uncertainty surrounding visa policies has made her feel less pressured with her post-graduate plans. If her plans to work in the U.S. after graduation didn’t pan out while visa policies were not in flux, she said she might blame herself."},{"type":"text","value":"\"If the policy is what’s affecting or blocking my career, my plans here then ... that’s what I won’t be able to control anyway, so there would be no regret,\" said Kim, who is expected to graduate in June."},{"type":"text","value":"Not all international students consider staying in the U.S. after graduation in the first place. Ábalos intends to move to Mexico City, having already found a job there that he will begin once he graduates in June, and he hopes to move to Australia later."},{"type":"text","value":"However, amid changing visa policies, Anderson’s incoming dean, Gareth James, hopes to expand Anderson’s influence globally. James, originally from New Zealand, will officially begin his tenure in July. Kuo said she believes that it is important James upholds and furthers Anderson’s values, including that of shared success."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"We frequently answer that question as ‘you are my ROI.’\\\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Kuo said second-year Anderson students interview prospective students, and the interview she had was a critical deciding factor in her ultimate decision to come to Anderson. The interview, she said, was a good example of the support network present at Anderson. The relationships with people at, or otherwise connected to, the school won’t end when she graduates, she said. For example, alumni often connect with each other or current students, as Kuo has been doing with incoming Taiwanese students."},{"type":"text","value":"The emphasis on connecting with classmates, acting as a group and Anderson’s strong alumni community were important to Ábalos – who wanted to come to the U.S. in part due to better employment opportunities – when picking a business school to attend. Ábalos said that being able to maintain the connections and relationships he has made at Anderson, including the bond he has with his godson’s parents, is priceless, a sentiment echoed by other students."},{"type":"text","value":"\"Our cohort and my friends are talking about the ROI towards this program,\" Yi said. \"We frequently answer that question as ‘You are my ROI,’ meaning that friendship we earn towards this program is actually one of my biggest assets.\""}]}},"pageContext":{"isCreatedByStatefulCreatePages":false,"term":"winter26","slug":"prime.businessintheusa"}}}