Cover Letter

Dear Ms. Mills and Members of the Selection Committee,

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's mission calls for empowering students to lead in a global society and address world-scale challenges through innovative learning and global partnership. Meeting this mission requires global immersion experiences that go beyond traditional study abroad—demanding seamless logistics, deep local access, and rigorous academic alignment.

Austral Education Group is pleased to submit this formal proposal in response to Request for Proposal (RFP) #65-09252026-HGM for Study Abroad Program Vendors Gen 2 for The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC Chapel Hill), serving the Study Abroad Office (SAO) and the Kenan-Flagler Business School (KFBS).

In strict compliance with Section 2.7 (Proposal Contents, Item 1) of RFP #65-09252026-HGM, Austral Education Group LLC formally affirms and certifies the following three mandatory statements:

Founded in 2005, Austral Education Group LLC is a specialized academic travel and experiential education provider with over two decades of experience designing, executing, and supporting custom faculty-led study abroad programs, international immersions, and global business seminars. Headquartered in Miami, Florida (LLC incorporated in Delaware), Austral employs over 125 full-time professionals supported by localized, bilingual on-ground program teams operating across 50+ countries and 130+ cities worldwide.

To date, Austral has successfully managed over 2,096 university global study trips and matched more than 2,274 applied corporate consulting projects for over 300 higher education institutions globally. Over 80% of Bloomberg’s top 20 graduate business programs trust Austral as their primary logistical and academic partner—including peer institutions such as London Business School, LSE, Wharton, Stanford, Columbia, UCLA, Northwestern, NYU, and UCD Smurfit.

Austral Education Group LLC specializes strictly in custom-designed academic immersions and digital learning formats. In direct alignment with the program categories outlined in Section 1.0 of RFP #65-09252026-HGM, our core capabilities and scope of services encompass:

• Custom Faculty-Led Academic Programs

  Turnkey, end-to-end design and operational management for custom faculty-led study abroad programs, global business seminars, and international immersions. Services include complete ground logistics (private executive coach transport, 3–5 star hotel procurement audited for safety and accessibility, group dining, AV conference space), academic co-design (sourcing C-suite executive speakers, corporate site visits, multi-sector panels), and applied corporate consulting challenges managed via the digital Austral Education Platform.
• Virtual Modules & Online Immersions

  Complete design and delivery of online global business modules, virtual workshops, live executive fireside chats, and asynchronous e-learning content for remote learning or contingency program pivoting.

IMPORTANT:

Austral Education Group does NOT offer Standard/Core Direct Enroll and Study Center Programs (such as island study centers, host university direct-enrollment, or hybrid study center courses) nor standalone Internship, Research, and Service-Learning / Community Engagement Programs as standard core service lines. Austral’s experiential learning focus is centered on short-term faculty-led immersions, corporate consulting challenges, and virtual modules rather than direct-enroll university centers or individual student internship/research placements.