ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan will launch a new partnership that enables MBA students from one of Latin America’s top business schools earn a master of public administration degree at the Ford School of Public Policy.

The dual-degree program, which begins August 2016, is designed for students in the one-year MBA section with exemplary English-language skills at the INCAE Business School in Costa Rica. The students will be admitted jointly by the Ford School and INCAE.

The students will first spend a year at INCAE, studying cases and developing tools for management and leadership, as well as gaining a perspective on doing business in Latin America. After successfully completing INCAE’s intensive program, they will move to the Ford School to take public policy courses augmented by a few courses from other programs at U-M.

“This new program is tremendously exciting for the Ford School,” said Susan Collins, dean of the Ford School. “It will strengthen our connections in Latin America, bring talented students to our classrooms and eventually create new internship and career opportunities.”

Luis Umaña Timms, executive director of INCAE’s MBA program, said, “This dual degree presents a unique opportunity for INCAE to maximize its impact in the region through the alignment of best practices of our alumni in the field of management in the private sector and public sector.”

INCAE was founded in 1964 by Harvard University with six Central American countries (Panamá, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador). It has a campus in Costa Rica and another one in Nicaragua.

About 25 percent of the Ford School’s graduate student body comes from abroad. Last year, graduate students included mid-career government officials, Fulbright scholars and Ford Foundation Fellows from Colombia, Hong Kong, Japan, Pakistan, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Turkey and Uganda.

More information:

• The Ford School of Public Policy
• INCAE Business School