World Citizens - DePaul University

Study Abroad Is
DePaul Alumnus’ Business
When Brian Boubek (COM ’95), CEO and founder of Tempe,
Ariz.-based CEA Global Education, was ready to study abroad,
he had already completed his classes at DePaul University. He had to
make his own arrangements for a year’s study in France after graduation,
but those efforts eventually led him to a million-dollar idea.
“It took me three or four months just to prepare all the details,”
notes Boubek of the difficult pre-travel and admissions arrangements that
he had to negotiate to enroll in a yearlong French language and
culture program at the University of Burgundy in 1995. “It was very
Boubek
time-consuming and a lot of work.”
That was before cell phones and e-mail, when communicating with university officials in France could be a painfully slow process.
“All they had was a fax machine and the phones were quite difficult,” Boubek explains. “They didn’t have voicemail or anything like that.”
Boubek’s less-than-ideal experience prompted him to write a guidebook for U.S. students looking to study in Europe. His “Student’s
Guide to Studying in France” included information about getting student visas, changing dollars into francs and wiring tuition money
abroad. But he felt he could offer something better than a do-it-yourself manual.
“After I finished the book, I decided that I would provide a service where I could help other students more directly,” he says. “I would
charge a fee to do all the work and make it all very easy for them.”
That decision evolved into a business plan for CEA. Boubek’s vision took shape while working in his brother’s 100-square-foot bedroom in
the months following his return from France in early 1996. He sent his first study abroad participant, a Cornell University student, to the University
of Burgundy later that fall.
Joseph Kinsella (LAS ’89, ’96), associate vice president of DePaul’s International Programs Office, says that Boubek’s experience in France
is one of the best outcomes a study abroad program can hope for. “Brian came back with knowledge about working in another society and
negotiating another set of cultural practices that led to his success with CEA.
“Something that Brian has gotten very good at is the ability to open businesses very quickly in different parts of the world. I know this grew
out of his immersion experience in France,” Kinsella observes.
But CEA was not an instant success story. Boubek says that he posted a $41,000 loss in 1996. In the next couple years, he maxed out
seven personal credit cards to finance business expansion—moving operations from his parents’ house in Chicago to new and larger premises in
Phoenix. That investment eventually paid off. This year, the company will report $30 million in revenue.
According to Boubek, CEA has grown at a dizzying annual rate of 30 percent since 2000. Currently, it has partnerships with more than
150 U.S. universities, including DePaul, and 44 academic institutions in 15 other countries.
Here are the top 10 countries or territories where DePaul alumni live.
Those marked with an asterisk also are sites for DePaul degree programs.
W h e r e D o O u r I n t e r n a t i o n a l A l u m n i L i v e ?
Country or Territory
Total Alumni
Canada 77
Hong Kong 51
China 42
Puerto Rico 38
Thailand* 36
Czech Republic* 33
England 25
Japan 20
Germany 20
Overseas Military 19
(Europe, Africa, Middle East)