CEA CAPA Global Business Consulting
Real-World Problem Solving for Every Major - Consult Globally!

Business Consulting offers a unique opportunity to collaborate with peers on real-world challenges faced by a host organization in your program location. This group-focused experience allows you to build skills in teamwork, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving while contributing innovative solutions to authentic business problems. Working closely with a host organization, you’ll gain hands-on experience in consulting practices, develop cross-cultural communication skills, and deepen your understanding of global business dynamics.

Students who thrive in Business Consulting are team-oriented, innovative, motivated, and humble critical thinkers who are excited to take on a new challenge. They enjoy working as part of a group to develop their communication, problem-solving, and teamwork skills through a hands-on project during their experience abroad.

CEA CAPA Business Consulting opportunities are available across Europe and Australia. Consulting projects are integrated into study abroad programs during both summer and semester terms, offering a dynamic combination of academic coursework and hands-on consulting experience. CEA CAPA programs provide comprehensive support services, including visa assistance, housing, academic advising, career development resources, and cultural excursions.

Consulting projects vary by location, with each program site having a specific focus area. These projects are tied to a local host organization, selected from CEA CAPA’s network of over 2,000 local partners, including small-to-medium enterprises, multinational corporations, non-profits, startups, and government agencies. Your project may involve designing business proposals, conducting market research, managing cross-cultural relationships, or developing innovative strategies to solve real-world challenges.

Business Consulting is open to all majors. It is designed to help students from any major grow professionally and make meaningful contributions to a dynamic, team-based project. Regardless of your field of study, you’ll gain valuable hands-on experience working with a local host organization, develop highly transferable career readiness skills, and broaden your global perspective. Click here for more insights on how students from diverse academic disciplines can thrive in a consulting project.

All standard CEA CAPA Business Consulting programs are credit-bearing. You will earn 3 credits through the Global Business Consulting Course, which combines hands-on consulting experience with skill-building and assessment based on project work and engagement. Your total number of credits earned will depend on the number of additional courses you take while abroad.

Unlike a full-time internship position, Business Consulting is primarily classroom-based and guided by a professor. While you will engage with a local host organization and work on real-world challenges, the experience focuses on project-based learning within a team setting, supported by academic instruction and consulting labs.

Rather than working individually within a company, you’ll collaborate with a small team of peers on a specific business project under faculty guidance, applying consulting best practices to address challenges faced by the local host organization. This unique structure makes it distinct from a traditional internship, while still offering valuable professional development and company engagement opportunities.

The Business Consulting Course combines classroom learning, project work, and direct interaction with a host organization. The course includes 45 contact hours spread across your full term abroad, with an additional 3 hours per week dedicated to team-based tasks. You’ll also meet with your host organization 3-4 times, either in person or virtually, to gain insights and guide your project. While class times are fixed, project hours and company meetings are flexible, and you should expect to complete work both in and out of class for your team consulting project.

Participating in a Business Consulting project is a great way to prepare for your future career. It offers the chance to work on real-world challenges with global businesses, giving you a meaningful global perspective that will set you apart in the job market. It will allow you to develop the career readiness skills that are most in-demand by employers nowadays, including critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and teamwork.

This experience demonstrates your ability to collaborate in diverse environments, apply your knowledge in practical ways, and adapt to international work settings. It’s a unique opportunity to explore your career interests, gain professional insights, and show future employers that you’re ready to contribute to complex projects with confidence.