Gonzaga and Shorelight Announce Partnership for International Students

SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga University and Shorelight today announced the launch of Gonzaga Global, a new partnership that will operate international undergraduate direct and graduate direct admission for the University. Gonzaga Global will further enhance Gonzaga’s mission as an exemplary learning community educating students worldwide for lives of leadership and service for the common good.

“We are excited to partner with a student-focused industry leader like Shorelight because we believe in the power of international education at Gonzaga as a core part of our Catholic, Jesuit and humanistic mission. This mission states that Gonzaga ‘fosters a mature commitment to the dignity of the human person, social justice, diversity, intercultural competence, global engagement, solidarity with the poor and vulnerable, and care for the planet,’” said Gonzaga Provost and Senior Vice President Deena J. González, Ph.D.

“Our campus, the classroom experience for students, and the Spokane community are enriched by multicultural perspectives and, in particular, the presence of international students. Gonzaga wishes to prepare students to solve problems all over the world — and that is made possible by learning from the life experiences of people from a variety of cultures and perspectives,” Provost González added.

Shorelight’s personalized, service-oriented approach will help Gonzaga recruit and retain international students from across the world and ensure a comfortable, welcoming transition to college life. As a result, this partnership will allow more international students to access Gonzaga’s robust undergraduate and graduate programs.

“We are thrilled to partner with Gonzaga University, ranked by U.S. News and World Report as a top 100 National University, to bring their student-centered approach, dedication to teaching, and commitment to service learning to international students across the globe. We know that world-class international students seeking a transformative U.S. higher education experience will find it at Gonzaga and contribute in so many ways to the extraordinary Gonzaga community,” said Shorelight CEO Tom Dretler. “Student success is at the heart of everything we do, and Gonzaga’s combination of high demand degree programs and a distinct student experience will enable international students to thrive.”

An important part of Gonzaga Global is the University’s English Language Center. For more than four decades, the Center has been instrumental in helping students transition to life at college and in the United States. The Center has supported essential English language development for students like Rui Hachimura, now an NBA star with the Washington Wizards, who came to Gonzaga from Toyama, Japan. The English Language Center has served more than 8,500 students from 105 countries, including more than two dozen student-athletes in recent years.

The first international students welcomed as a part of this partnership will arrive on campus at Gonzaga for the fall 2021 semester. Students also have the option to begin their studies spring 2021 through Shorelight’s digital platform, American Collegiate Live.

About Shorelight Education

Shorelight is reinventing the international education experience for students worldwide. Based in Boston, the company partners with top-ranked, nonprofit North American universities to build innovative programs and high-touch, technology-driven services that help talented students thrive and become global citizens. 

About Gonzaga University

Gonzaga University, established in Spokane, Wash., in 1887, is situated along the Spokane River less than a mile from the city’s downtown core. Gonzaga is a Catholic, Jesuit and humanistic University ranked by U.S. News and World Report as a top-100 National University. Gonzaga develops every student’s intellectual skills, imaginative capacities and ability to innovate so its graduates become leaders who shape and serve their professions and communities for the common good. At the undergraduate level, Gonzaga offers 16 degrees through 49 majors, 58 minors and 49 concentrations. At the graduate level, Gonzaga offers 24 degrees with 21 concentrations — including four doctoral degrees and one juris doctorate. Gonzaga’s six schools and one college are the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Business Administration, the School of Education, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School of Nursing and Human Physiology, the School of Leadership Studies, and the School of Law.

MEDIA: For more information please contact Peter Tormey, Ph.D., associate director public relations, Gonzaga University, at tormey@gonzaga.edu or (509) 313-6132. For more information about Shorelight, please contact Alex Goldstein, at agoldstein@ninetywest.com or (617) 429-4027.