ROME — For many students at Italian business schools, the American dream has drifted south, as aspiring businessmen and women are looking to complete their studies in Latin America.

In response, three of Italy’s best-known business schools have set up new partnerships this year with business schools across the Atlantic.

A full 80 percent of the students in the MIP-Politecnico di Milano M.B.A. program say they want to spend some time abroad before they graduate. Half of them go to other European countries, and the rest head to the Americas and Asia, said Stefano Ronchi, the M.B.A. program director at MIP-Politecnico di Milano.

“Some students choose South America because they’ve never been and some of them see those countries as an opportunity to develop not just their knowledge, but also their business,” Mr. Ronchi said. “It’s sort of a gamble for us, but students were really asking for it.”