From inception in 1998, the Northwestern University Office of International Program Development (IPD) has worked to promote internationalization and cross-school collaborations at Northwestern by building relationships with partner institutions around the world. IPD runs 24 international study programs in 10 countries on 6 continents.

By designing programs that cater to nontraditional study abroad students - particularly engineering, pre-med and medical students - IPD works to create international opportunities for all students, regardless of academic background or financial means.

The Northwestern Global Health Studies minor is also housed within IPD, which runs the minor public health study abroad programs in Mexico, China, South Africa, France, and Uganda. IPD was awarded an NIH Fogarty Frameworks grant in September 2008 to expand Global Health programs infrastructure at Northwestern at both the undergraduate and medical school level.

The IPD Chicago satellite office is housed in the Augusta Webster Office for Medical Education at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. IPD also facilitates research & volunteer opportunities for undergraduates and graduate students, and sponsors visiting faculty from institutional partners.