Soroosh Sohrabi graduated from Carleton University's MBA program this past June.
The Carleton alumni, ID 259228, could be viewed as just another graduate in a long list of distinguished scholars, except he studied in his home country of Iran.
Born and raised in Tehran, Sohrabi, 32, was among the first cohort of students to be accepted to the Sprott School of Business' inaugural offshore MBA program in Iran.
The opportunity to receive a North American education without uprooting his professional and personal life and at reduced cost was a great incentive for Sohrabi to enrol.
Having seen an ad in the media about the Sprott program, he could hardly believe it was true until he received an introduction package, calendar and detailed facts. Approximately 80 Iranian students were interested in the program and, after a number of interviews, Sohrabi was among 21 students accepted.
Despite the reduced cost of the program, money was still a concern for Sohrabi and the other students.
"Average salary for undergraduates in Iran is around US$200 to US$400 per month," says Sohrabi. "It was reasonable as compared with cost of education in Canada, but still was not possible to afford if they would not accept it in a few instalments.
"It is not easy for the majority of people to pay US$10,000 to US$12,000, apart from books, living cost on campus and airline tickets. I personally could afford only through major financial aids from my parents and I believe this was true almost for everybody else."
Despite the financial concerns, graduating with the internationally recognized degree helped Sohrabi get positions he otherwise might not have been considered for.
"The fact that we got our degree from an international university in a Canadian community is quite supportive for seeking and hunting superior positions in our society."
With a GPA of A+, Sohrabi recently landed the position of executive manager in the School of Cognitive Science at Tehran's Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics.
"It is a fresh international environment and nobody believes I got this job by responding to their simple ad and only due to my degree and work experiences," says Sohrabi. "You often get such positions here only through connections and recommendations."
In August 2000, Carleton University signed a contract with Qeshm Institute of Higher Education in Iran to have eight of the 10 required Sprott courses taught in Iran. The remaining two would be taught at Carleton, giving the Iranian students the opportunity to come to Canada.
Professors with the Sprott School teach all courses. (Qeshm is located in a resort area that is a two-hour flight from Tehran.)
With the program in its third year of operation, Sprott School of Business director Vinod Kumar says setting up business education programs abroad is in line with one of three areas of focus for the Sprott School: internationalization.
"We find a comparable partner institution and then the local institution looks after all the logistics, the promotion, arranging classrooms and giving information to potential students," says Kumar. "What we do, from the Canadian side, is send our professors to teach the MBA class."
This past September, the Sprott School began the same program in Shanghai, China at the University of Donghua. In addition, it has begun a B.Com with an international business concentration in Khandala, near Mumbai, India.
"One of the challenges we have is we want to offer programs in offshore places without jeopardizing any quality aspect of our local program," says Kumar. "Whenever we schedule a professor to Iran or China, we have to see that either it is a free period for the professor to go or the timing is such when there is a break period between the two semesters or during the summer period."
Kumar says the offshore programs benefit his professors, who learn the business practices of the particular countries they are visiting and can then bring examples of a global nature to their Ottawa classes.
As well, bringing the MBA program to foreign countries builds Carleton's reputation on an international level and enhances the relationship between Canada and these countries, Kumar says.
"In Iran, India or China, there is a mass population which is very bright but there is no infrastructure available. There are only so many universities and opportunities those people can take higher education."
Sohrabi agrees. "I wish (other Iranians) enough money and language skills so they can afford it. Iranian people value very much higher education, especially in Western universities, but the problem is they cannot handle tuitions or easily get the visa.
"Since the cost of life and education in West is much more than average people's income in Iran, such a unique program is a true way to reach the same goal through the same experiences and contributions but by paying far less than half the costs."
