Three years ago, a cluster of School of Business undergraduates enrolled in a new triple-degree program that immerses students in learning experiences on three continents. It was a first at the George Washington University, and it remains a rarity in higher education.
The cohort of the inaugural ACE (America, China, Europe) Triple Degree is now back on the GW campus for a final year of study before graduating with simultaneous business degrees from GW, Luiss University in Rome and Renmin University in Beijing. The ACE students talk with knowledge about international business operations in the United States, Europe and Asia. They name the global business leaders they have met. They describe how they forged career networks unlike those of their classmates on the GW campus.
And more than anything, they marvel at how they learned to navigate the world—professionally and personally.
“It was definitely rigorous—and challenging at times because you miss home—but I’m 100 percent glad I did this. It changed my life. It changed my goals. And it changed what impact I want to have on the world,” said Brennen Myrick, B.S. ’26, who grew up in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
“When students consider this program, they have to be realistic,” he added. “There will be moments that are challenging, and that’s by design. They want us to develop into cosmopolitan students by nature.”
Sarah LaRosa, director of Global and Experiential Education at GW Business, said the program is “an excellent fit for curious and globally minded students who are eager to immerse themselves in diverse cultures, tackle complex global business challenges and lead with an international perspective.”
“These are future leaders who understand that success in business requires cultural fluency, adaptability and a deep appreciation for global interconnectedness,” she said. “ACE students are ambitious, open-minded and ready to learn not just in the classroom, but from the world itself.”
Patrick Papé, B.S. ’26, is a member of ACE’s inaugural cohort. He said it is a program for someone who wants to study abroad and is driven.
“This is the type of program for someone … who wants the GW experience of pushing themselves. They really do challenge you. But you’re also in a small group, so a lot is one-on-one, and you can ask questions,” said Papé, whose family lives in Wyoming. “The program opens doors internationally. D.C. is a great hub for international business, but ACE opens doors beyond D.C. It’s an incredible experience.”
Caitlin Shannon, the assistant director of undergraduate advising at GW Business, is the main point of contact for the ACE students and GW’s liaison with the universities in Rome and Beijing. She said undergraduates apply for the high-impact program in the fall of their first year at GW. Up to 15 students will be selected to join the Class of 2029 cohort.
The students at all three universities study their first year in their home countries, then together in Italy during their second year, China their third year and Washington, D.C., in their fourth and final year. Each university sets the curriculum for its year. When the students are finished, they have bachelor’s degrees from all three academic institutions.
“For GW, it’s the B.S. in international business,” Shannon said.
Jason Savage, B.S. ’26, grew up in Philadelphia and enrolled at GW specifically because of the ACE program. “It exceeded all my expectations, honestly,” he said. “We had phenomenal educators. The professors at Luiss in Rome and in Beijing were great educators.”
In fall 2023, after a first year of study on the GW campus, GW’s seven ACE students headed off to Rome where they were joined by 14 Italian students and 15 Chinese students taking the same triple degree program. A year later, all three groups traveled to China for nearly a year of study. They are all now on the GW campus.
ACE asks a lot of its students, who study the key drivers of management in global business environments. During the six classes they take each term, the students work individually and in teams to develop the critical, analytical and communication skills needed to work across borders and cultures. Although they learn together in classes taught specifically to the cohort, in China they can take a few elective classes with the larger student body.
Traveling the world
Despite the academic demands, the inaugural cohort also managed to squeeze in internships, organize seminars and forge deep friendships. In Rome, they were regulars at a pizzeria near where they lived. In China, they traveled together to an expo in the central highlands.
Travel, in fact, was an indispensable part of the ACE experience. During weekends and holidays, the students hit the road.
“In Italy, just being centrally located in a major European city was a standout. But we managed to explore Europe,” said Papé. “We’d leave after class on a Friday and come back Monday morning. I had one flight that I took from Rome to London that cost me 9.75 euros,” about $11 U.S. dollars.
While in Italy, Papé visited 20 countries. When he was studying in China, he added 10 more countries to the list.
Savage, meanwhile, pointed to China’s landscapes and natural offerings in describing “the most beautiful country in the world.” He also spoke of the gracious hospitality of the Chinese people.
U.S. study abroad programs in China fell off dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today it is estimated that fewer than 1,000 U.S. students take classes in China annually. Most of those programs are anchored in Shanghai, making the GW students in Beijing an exceptional experience.
Papé, who will intern on Capitol Hill this fall with U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, talked about an MBA class at Renmin that invited the ACE classmates to serve as guest lecturers speaking about the cultural differences between U.S. and Italian businesses. “That’s not an experience I would have gotten at GW if I had stayed on campus,” he said.
Interning in Beijing
ACE students can intern in Beijing during the spring semester of their junior year. Savage and Myrick, for example, had paralegal internships, working in China on data privacy and anti-trust issues with London-based law firm Fieldfisher. Papé had an internship in China with 5 Star Plus Retail Design, which is headquartered in Austria.
“What is really cool is the community the students have built—all with a global mindset. They have learned the slang in the other countries. They are building interesting core relationships. They are naturally building the same kind of in-classroom community as their peers on the GW campus, but they are doing it across the globe,” Shannon said. “And they’re getting to know the administrators at the other universities.”
For all they gained, the ACE students also talk about what they gave up—though without regrets. Being off campus for half their degree program meant they did not join student groups or take part in collegiate sports. Their degrees have no minors because they would have been unable to fulfill the concentration requirements. They missed out on traditions of the student experience, from Midnight Breakfast during final exams to Family and Friends Weekend.
Nevertheless, they have made lifelong friends within their cohort, including among the Italian and Chinese students. In various combinations, they are even sharing housing on campus this coming academic year. And they will be part of Commencement on the National Mall in 2026, along with the rest of GW’s graduates.
Savage said it is important that incoming students considering the program realize that it may not cost them more than a traditional degree. Shannon said students’ GW scholarships and financial aid travel with them. “The housing, especially in China, was far less expensive than in the United States,” Savage noted. “And we weren’t paying for a meal plan.”
The first cohort of ACE students provided GW with live feedback that has helped shape subsequent years of the program. For example, ACE student now live nearer to the Luiss campus in Rome and closer to where the Chinese students live in Beijing
Both Myrick and Savage want to leverage their ACE degrees for careers in international business law. Papé hopes to spend his first two years after graduation working in business and deepening his skills before he joins the two companies his parents and brother run. He wants to use his international business experience to grow both operations.
“A degree in China or a degree in the European Union opens up job opportunities in both of these regions. I will have degrees from both. The people I’m meeting are going to be leaders in their regions. They are in my network,” Myrick said. “In ACE, you have to adapt, to learn how to talk and communicate effectively with people from round the world. You have to put yourself in uncomfortable situations and be successful. Those skills are important to employers in this globalized day and age. This is a skillset that I wouldn’t have been able to develop by staying on campus.”
