Alfred J. Verrecchia, left, Hasbro president and CEO, speaks yesterday with John Grandin, director of the International Engineering Program at URI, before announcing a $500,000 donation to expand the university’s international programs.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Toy maker Hasbro Inc. of Pawtucket is helping the University of Rhode Island expand its international education program for students.

Hasbro’s charitable arm, the Hasbro Children’s Fund, has given $500,000 to URI to support its international engineering program, established in 1987, and its new international business program, to be launched in the fall.

Most of the money will be used to create the Hasbro Scholars Fund, which will, in turn, help pay the expenses of URI undergraduates who study in China and take part in internships there.

The gift, announced at a ceremony at the URI Alumni Center yesterday, comes as URI broadens its international education for students — and its focus on China, said URI President Robert L. Carothers.

“We’re trying to internationalize the curriculum in all fields,” Carothers said in an interview. “We want to have more and more of our students in international programs,” he said.

About 10 percent of URI students currently take part in study-abroad programs, Carothers said, adding that URI would like to boost that to about 20 percent in the next few years, targeting study in such locations as China, India and South Korea.

Few Rhode Island businesses have as much international experience as Hasbro, particularly in China, since all its toys, and about half its games, are manufactured there, said Alfred J. Verrecchia, Hasbro president and chief executive officer.

Hasbro’s gift will encourage more URI students to study Chinese language and culture, said Verrecchia, who earned an undergraduate degree from URI in 1967, an MBA in 1972, and an honorary doctorate in 2004.

“We believe that students with cross-cultural backgrounds, especially those who speak Chinese and understand its culture, will be better equipped to become leaders at companies with international operations,” he said in a statement.

Some of the URI engineering and business students who study in China as a result of Hasbro’s gift will be able to obtain internships at Hasbro’s operations in Hong Kong or its suppliers in China — and may eventually find employment there, too, Verrecchia said in the interview.

About $400,000 of Hasbro’s gift will be used for scholarships for students to study at a university in China and intern at firms in China, he said. The remaining $100,000 or so will help pay for travel and other expenses for professors who support and develop the program, Verrecchia said.

Hasbro’s gift will help broaden URI’s International Engineering Program, one of the university’s premier education programs. About 200 participating students study not only engineering at URI, but also another country’s language and culture.

They add to their experience by traveling to that country, studying and taking part in internships there, said Bahram Nassersharif, dean of URI’s College of Engineering, and John M. Grandin, a URI professor of German and executive director of the International Engineering Program.

Based on that program’s experience, URI plans to launch this fall an international business program at URI’s College of Business Administration, said Mark Higgins, the college’s dean. “Students need to understand the international aspects of doing business in a global economy,” he said.

Students who complete a significant number of foreign language courses will be able to enroll, then obtain internships with partner institutions in China, Higgins said.

Those who graduate through the program will wind up with a bachelor of science degree in business administration, a bachelor of arts degree in a foreign language and experience through a foreign internship — all within 4½ years, Higgins said.

The College of Business Administration has already taken some steps toward the development of this program, said Shaw Chen, associate dean in charge of international initiatives at URI’s College of Business Administration.

For example, each of the college’s students must take at least one international business course, in such areas as marketing, management or finance, he said.

The Hasbro gift is part of URI’s “Making a Difference” campaign, which seeks to raise $100 million. Money raised through the campaign will be used to recruit and retain faculty, provide undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships, and help pay for research efforts, among other things.

The first group of URI students to benefit from the Hasbro gift will take part in a six-week introductory trip to China this summer, studying its language, culture and industry.

Among the students who already benefit from URI’s international education efforts is R. John Ellwood, 24, of Long Island, N.Y. During one of his five years as a URI undergraduate, he lived, studied and interned in Germany for a year.

Ellwood graduated last year with a bachelor of arts degree in German language and a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering.

Now a URI graduate student, he said he hopes to land a job one day as a global engineer, based in Europe or China. “The move to the global economy” has helped create “a lot more opportunities,” Ellwood said in an interview yesterday.

As part of his URI studies, Ellwood took part in a six-week trip to China last summer, said Robert Beagle, URI vice president for university advancement. “He’s getting to travel the world because he came to URI,” Beagle said.

ndowning@projo.com