Suffolk University

Boston means business

Suffolk University offers students a personalized educational experience in the heart of Boston.

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Aerial view of David J Sargant Hall at Suffolk University, with tree-filled park, church steeple, and Boston skyscrapers in distance.

Founded in 1906, Suffolk University is a private research institution that has cultivated a student-centric focus for more than a century. Suffolk ranks No. 38 for best value schools in the US and No. 34 best regional universities in the Regional North US, according to U.S. News & World Report 2022. The university provides students with incredible, industry-led resources and small class sizes for an individualized education custom-fit to their needs.

Suffolk’s campus is in Boston, which earned the title of No. 1 best student city in the US from QS World Universities Rankings 2022 and No. 1 city with the best business environment in the US from U.S. News & World Report 2021. There are many internship and employment opportunities at Fortune 500 companies in the city. Students will have direct access to attractions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Fenway Park, Boston Public Garden and countless other historic sites and museums.

Suffolk hosts 1,037 international students from over 100 countries. It has the largest percentage of international students among regional universities in the Regional North US, according to U.S. News & World Report 2020.

Group of international students from INTO Suffolk University sit and work on lawn in front of Massachusetts State House in downtown Boston.

The INTO Suffolk Center

INTO Suffolk University offers international students a suite of support services to help them adapt to American life while improving their English skills.

  • A team of academic faculty and staff offering personalized academic, language and cultural support.
  • Specialized housing support to help students find the right place to live on campus or in Downtown Boston.
  • 99% of INTO Suffolk Pathway students were eligible to progress to degree programs in 2019-2020, 99% of whom enrolled.
Five international students from INTO Suffolk University stand and converse in street corner in front of Suffolk building window in downtown Boston.

Programs

INTO offers students the option to apply for direct admission into a variety of Suffolk’s degree programs, or for a Pathway program that prepares students to pursue a Suffolk degree.

Top-ranked degree programs and schools at Suffolk include a top three MBA program, according to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly 2020, the No. 1 law school for legal technology, according to PreLaw Magazine 2021, and the No. 95 best public affairs program, according to U.S. News & World Report 2021.

INTO Suffolk Programs:

  • Undergraduate and Graduate Degrees: Students who meet academic and English requirements for their desired undergraduate and graduate degree programs can apply directly to the university program.
  • International Year One (IYO): Students can earn credits toward their degree even if they don’t meet academic and English requirements for their chosen undergraduate degree program.
  • Undergraduate Transfer Program: A customized program allowing students to transfer credits and apply them toward their degree.
  • Graduate Pathway: Provides a direct path to various degree programs, offering academic foundation, essential language skills, and GMAT/GRE test preparation.
  • Academic English: An intensive program offering students rapid progress in preparation for an academic degree.
  • INTO Online English for Academic Success: An intensive online program offering students rapid progress in preparation for an academic degree.

StudentsCounselors

Three international students at INTO Suffolk University sit and talk at wooden table in cafeteria in front of wall that reads “The City of Boston.”

Career outcomes

  • 96% of Suffolk graduates are working or in graduate school within one year of graduation.
  • 1,400+ financial firms, nearly 1,900 law firms and 1,900+ technology companies in Boston.
  • Internships are built into a student’s coursework. Alumni have gone on to work for companies like Amazon, The Boston Red Sox, Nike, Alibaba, Bose, Wayfair and Tripadvisor.
International students at INTO Suffolk University sit at large desk with laptops, notebooks, and books open, collaborating on group project.

Contact the center

INTO Suffolk University
73 Tremont Street
4th Floor
Boston, MA 02108
USA

Phone: +1 617 573 8700
Email: SuffolkAdmissions@intoglobal.com

 

Center leadership

Kathy Sparaco

Kathy Sparaco

Executive Director, INTO Suffolk University
Kathy Sparaco

Kathy Sparaco

Executive Director, INTO Suffolk University

Dr. Kathy Sparaco is the Executive Director of INTO Suffolk University. As INTO Suffolk’s first Executive Director, Dr. Sparaco is responsible for delivering success to the JV partners and stakeholders. She joined Suffolk in 2012 as the Director of the International Office after completing her EdD.

Over the past 7 years, she has played a key role contributing to Suffolk University’s internationalization efforts. Prior to her current role, Dr. Sparaco was the Assistant Provost overseeing the Division of Student Success. She is a seasoned administrator, but her professional origins began in front of the classroom with teaching ESL in Japan. Teaching ESL abroad and in the U.S. was a professionally formative experience that provided the infrastructure for her future goals. Throughout her career she has worked on behalf of international students and professionals in community colleges, public research, and private institutions. She brings a clear understanding of the skill set needed to design and implement innovative and relevant processes to meet critical campus resources in realizing internationalization goals.

Dr. Sparaco holds an M.Ed.in Education from San Francisco State University and an EdD from Drexel University where she pursued a degree in Higher Education Leadership and Management. She has a practical and practiced approach to her work but is informed by research. Her dissertation focused on the phenomenon of internationalization in higher education and, specifically, the professional lives of practitioners who work with international students. Her research considered (1) what encompassed the lived experience of international student advisors, (2) what emergent concerns might be important in the experiences of international student advisors, and (3) in what way have the personal constructs of professionalism and professional identity for international student advisors been developed? Understanding how practitioners in the field of international education found an authentic sense of professional self was a hugely rewarding study. Kathy is currently conducting research with Suffolk faculty on faculty and staff best practices with international students.

Kathy lives in Scituate, Massachusetts with her husband, son, two cats and two dogs. She enjoys the outdoors, yoga and is passionate about scratch cooking.

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