Each year more than 100 students from Northern Ireland spend their junior year studying at more than 100 Presbyterian, Catholic, Episcopal and United Methodist colleges in the United States through the Business Education Initiative (BEI).

Sponsored by the Government of Northern Ireland's Department for Employment and Learning, BEI enables students to develop business and management skills and expand their awareness of the world outside of Northern Ireland.

BEI was one result of U.S. Presbyterians and Catholics becoming involved in the Northern Ireland peace process in the early 1990s. In 1994, nineteen students came to the United States to study at eleven Presbyterian colleges, which had agreed to waive their tuition. Today a majority of APCU colleges host students from Northern Ireland through BEI.

U.S. students attending colleges that participate in BEI can study in Northern Ireland through the Irish American Scholars program.