Budapest Business School

Budapest Business School

Budapesti Gazdasági Egyetem (BGE) (Hungarian)
Type	Public business school
Established	1857 (1857)
Chancellor	Dr. Ferenc Dietz
Rector	Éva Sándor-Kriszt, Ph.D.
Academic staff	987
Students	16,905
Location	Budapest , Hungary 47°30′29″N 19°07′29″E
Campus	Urban
Colours	White and Gold
Affiliations	IAU, EUA, EURASHE, EFMD, EQUIS, ERASMUS, SOCRATES, AIESEC, EAIE, ENQA, CEEPUS, IACBE, EAIE
Website	uni-bge.hu

BBS campus in Budapest downtown, hosting conferences for the Hungarian Presidency of the EU

College of Finance and Accountancy campus in Budapest

Budapest Business School (BBS) (Hungarian: Budapesti Gazdasági Egyetem or BGE) is a public university business school specialised in business studies and social sciences located in Budapest, Hungary. Founded in 1857 by merchants and bankers of Austria-Hungary in order to establish the economic vocational training of higher education in the empire and in Central Europe. BBS is officially the oldest public business school in the world, and second oldest among business schools, after the ESCP Europe.

The Budapest Business School is Hungary's largest business school and conducts education and research in leadership, economics, operations management, marketing, entrepreneurship, organizational behavior, and other areas; as of this time, its most acclaimed programs are finance, accounting, strategic management, and tourism. The School offers a wide range of graduate-level academic programs and concentrations. In the latest academic year the Budapest Business School offers 12 Bachelor's degree programmes, in case of most programmes in English, French, German and Hungarian language as well. Offers 12 Master's degree programmes, of which the most populars are Master of Finance, Master of Management (equal to MBA), Master of International Business and Master of Tourism Management. Moreover, offers PhD in Management doctoral school, 51 post-graduate professional qualification with either Hungarian, English, German, Dutch or French state degree accreditations, being recognized within the European Union and throughout the world.

History

Budapest Business School was founded as the Pest Academy of Commerce that was established in 1857, which is the official predecessor of the BBS faculties College of Finance and Accountancy and the College of Catering, Commerce and Tourism. Pest Academy of Commerce (German: Pester Handelsakademie, Hungarian: Pesti Kereskedelmi Akadémia) was founded by the second president of the Pest Chamber of Commerce, József Appiano, Antal Valero (first president of the Pest Chamber of Commerce, and later Pest Mayor) and by Habsburg Emperor Francis Joseph. At the beginning, the language of education was German at the academy.

It was the first higher educational institution for business studies in Austria-Hungary, thus it was the first business school in Central Europe. Moreover, it is the oldest existing business school in the world, following the ESCP Europe with its campuses in Paris, London, Berlin, Madrid, and Torino. After the cities Buda and Pest merged, the institution was renamed to Budapest Academy of Commerce. Most of the business professionals and economists of the country gained their qualifications there as it was the only business school in the country that time.

Architect Győző Czigler designed the Alkomány street campus of the Budapest Academy of Commerce in 1882, and the construction was finished in 1885, when the construction of the Hungarian Parliament Building was also starting directly next to it. He was the architect of the Széchenyi thermal bath and many other famous buildings. The campus at the Alkotmány street is still one of the main campuses of the Budapest Business School. BBS's campus at the Markó street is also located in Downtown Budapest. It is also a monumental building, designed by famous architect Ferenc Kolbenheyer (father of Erwin Guido Kolbenheyer) in neoclassicel style in 1872. The Markó street campus of the Budapest Business School is a close but more modest kin of the top-ranked ETH Zurich, designed by Gottfried Semper and Gustav Zeuner. There is a famous Council Room at the Markó street campus called Lotz Room, full with paintings painted by Károly Lotz and Mór Than. Many of the conferences of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union was held in this room, and in other lecture rooms of the Markó street campus. Budapest Academy of Commerce was a private business school until 1949, when it was secularized by the government, becoming a public business school.

After the school was renamed and changed several times, the College of Accountancy was established in 1953, and the College of Catering and Commerce was established in 1969. The forerunner of the College of International Management is the School of International Commerce that was established in 1957.

College of Commerce, Catering and Tourism historical building campus in downtown

In January 2000, the colleges created the Budapest Business School and became faculties of the university. In March 2011, the College of Business Administration faculty was established out of the College of Finance and Accounting campus in Zalaegerszeg.

Official Predecessors of the Budapest Business School

	Name	Location	Period
1	Pest Academy of Commerce	Pest	1857–1873
2	Budapest Academy of Commerce	Budapest	1873–1953
3	Oriental Academy of Commerce	Budapest	1899–1920
4	College of Accountancy	Budapest	1953–1970
5	College of Finance and Accountancy	Budapest	1970–2000
6	College of International Management	Budapest	1969–2000
7	College of Commerce, Catering and Tourism	Budapest	1969–2000
8	Budapest Business School	Budapest	2000–present

Faculties and Schools of the Budapest Business School

• College of Finance and Accountancy, Budapest
• College of International Management and Business, Budapest
• College of Commerce, Catering and Tourism, Budapest
• College of Business Management, Zalaegerszeg
• International Doctoral School of Business Administration, Budapest

Academic profile

BBS is dedicated solely to the study and research of business and social sciences, and is the only university in Hungary to be so. BBS awards a range of academic degrees spanning bachelors, masters and PhDs:

• BA in Business Economics and Management
• BSc in Finance and Accounting (also in English language)
• BA in Tourism and Catering Management (also in English and German languages)
• BSc in International Business Economics
• BA in International Business Economics (from BBS) and BA in Business Administration (from the Avans University, Netherlands) dual degree program in English language
• BA in International Business Economics (from BBS) and BA in Business Administration (from the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Frankfurt, Germany) dual degree program in English language
• BA in International Business Economics (from BBS) and BA in Business Administration (from the University of Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France) dual degree in French language
• BA in Commerce and Marketing (also in English and German languages)
• BA in Human Resource Management
• BSc in Business Information Technology
• BA in Communication and Media
• BA in Business Education
• BA in Business Management (top-up honours year with the Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK in English language)
• BA in SME Business Management (degree from the Paris West University Nanterre La Défense, Paris, France)
• MA in International Business (with the Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK in English language)
• MA in Global Communication (with the Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK in English language)
• MSc in Finance
• MSc in Accounting
• MSc in International Economics and Business
• MA in Business Development
• MA in Tourism Management (also in English language)
• MA in Marketing
• MA in Business Education
• MA in International Studies (also in English language)
• MA in Management
• MA in E-Business (with the University of Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France in French language)
• PhD in Management (with the Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK in English language)

Budapest Business School also offers 51 postgraduate professional degree programs.

International partnerships

The Budapest Business School (BBS) has active connections with more than 200 foreign higher education institutions in nearly 50 countries on five continents. There are academic programmes in international cooperation at several levels at BBS. Students taking part in the International Business Economics programme in English can be awarded the degree of a Dutch partner institution, the Avans Hogeschool's International School, Breda or a German partner HEI, the Fachhochschule Frankfurt am Main University of Applied Sciences, Frankfurt am Main. The same study programme in French is jointly run with the University of Picardie Jules Verne in Amiens. Graduates of this programme are also awarded a French degree. In addition to dual award programmes, there are three bachelor programmes running in a foreign language: Commerce and Marketing in English and German, Finance and Accounting in English, while Tourism and Catering in English and German. An English-language Masters Programme in Tourism-Management was launched in September 2011, and in International Relations will be launched in September 2012. The graduates can also enroll in an Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) postgraduate degree (MA) programme entitled MA International Business delivered in Budapest. BBS offers English-language PhD Programme also, in collaboration with ARU.

AIESEC at the Budapest Business School

Budapest Business School is the only higher educational institution in the world that hosts several offices (Local Committees) of AIESEC. AIESEC is the third largest non-profit organization in the world, after the United Nations and the Red Cross. It is run by students, getting the university students and the corporate sector together, providing exceptional experiences for students. As there is one AIESEC office for each BBS faculty, there are exceptionally three AIESEC offices at the Budapest Business School, out of the five AIESEC offices in the city of Budapest.

Notable alumni

• László Békesi, Finance minister of Hungary for two times
• Sándor Csányi, president of OTP Bank, the wealthiest person in Hungary
• Zsolt Katona, CEO of Budapest Stock Exchange
• Sándor Demján, president of TriGránit, 2nd wealthiest person in Hungary
• Gábor Scheiring, Politics Can Be Different party's economic cabinet leader
• András Tállai, current Secretary of State for Ministry of National Economy
• István Simicskó, Minister of Defence