Hanken School of Economics is the oldest Business School in Finland and one of the oldest in Northern Europe. Hanken School of Economics is the oldest Business School in Finland and one of the oldest in Northern Europe. Based in Helsinki and Vaasa, the Financial Times ranked Hanken as 55th of all European Business Schools in 2020. Hanken also has the Triple Crown accreditation that is held by less than 1% of the world’s business schools.

Table of Contents

Overview

Hanken School of Economics is the oldest Business School in Finland and one of the oldest in Northern Europe. It is a leading university with 110 years of experience in research and education in economics and business administration. The university cooperates with a number universities world-wide and is member of several international networks.

Hanken has pledged to creating new knowledge and educating responsible professionals for the global economy and changing society. This is done through research activities characterised by academic excellence and corporate world relevance. Hanken offers you a renowned education of excellent quality.

Hanken campuses are based in Helsinki and Vaasa, both beautiful coastal cities in Finland. Helsinki is the capital of Finland. The city has several research universities and universities of applied sciences, which contributes to a vibrant social scene for students. Besides choosing a high-quality education, you will also find what you really like among lots of activities, nature and culture. Vaasa is the second largest student city in the country with plenty of social activities with a wide range of both exercise and culture. City’s beautiful campus area has an interesting architecture and a beach park right next to the sea.

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Semester starts

August

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Application period

Regular: 23.11.2022 – 13.01.2023

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Tuition fee

12 500 € / year

Apply now

Hanken is one of the most international universities in the Nordics, and they are proud of it. All Hanken’s bachelor’s students go on exchange and many of the master’s students have an international background. To achieve this, Hanken has built an impressive list of partner universities with the world’s top business schools and universities. The school is also proud of its graduates and alumni: up to 98 % of the 2018 & 2017 graduates had found employment within 6 months of completing their degree!

HANKEN students studying together
All photos on this page are courtesy of HANKEN School of Economics.

HELSINKI CAMPUS ADDRESS

Arkadiankatu 22
00100 Helsinki
Finland

VAASA CAMPUS ADDRESS

Kirjastonkatu 16

65100 Vaasa

Finland

WEBSITE

Hanken School of Economics

Hanken is a leading, top-5 university-level business school in Scandinavia/Nordics – featuring the “triple-crown” of international business school accreditations (AACSB, EQUIS, AMBA). Its research ranks in the top 5 among Scandinavian/Nordic business schools in terms of research published in top journals of business and economics. Hanken also ranks in the top 40 of all universities in the world in terms of research citation rate. European Commission’s HRS4R initiative awarded Hanken with the ‘HR Excellence in Research’ label.

Hanken has two campuses: one located in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, and the other in Vaasa, the energy capital of the Nordics. Both cities have a vibrant business life and are hubs for the Finnish industries’. The central locations make it possible to cooperate with businesses and different industries. This ensures that students are offered plenty of opportunities to connect with potential future employers.

STUDY PROGRAMS

Hanken offers a Master’s Program in Economics and Business Administration in English. This is a two-year leadership and business program, in which students can choose between many different specializations. For applicants applying in the rolling admission, Business & Management specialization is open.

  • Specialization options

    The admission round to MSc in Economics and Business Administration for students applying with degrees from outside Finland is divided into 2 rounds:

    • Regular admission: 25.10.2021 – 13.1.2022
    • Rolling admission: 25.1.2022 – 1.5.2022

    The following specialization will be open for regular admission:

    The following track will be open for rolling admission:

    Hanken offers admission through rolling admission for 60 new students. 40 to Marketing and Management (Vaasa), 2 to Humanitarian Logistics (Helsinki), 9 to International Strategy and Sustainability (Helsinki) and 9 to Marketing (Helsinki).

  • Credits

    Master’s degree

    • Master of Science in Economics and Business Administration
      • 2 years = 120 ECTS

Admission criteria

The application process through Edunation is fast and simple. Students are pre-screened on a first-come, first-served basis. If you fulfill the admission requirements, you can get conditional acceptance in four weeks.

Apply now

  • Admissions requirements

    Requirements change depending on the application period:

    • Regular: 1.11.2021 – 14.1.2022
      Rolling: 1.2.2022 – 2.5.2022

    Regular admission

    Educational background

    Applicants for the Master in Economics and Business Administration in the regular admission need to have the following the educational background to be eligible for admission:

    The bachelor’s degree must:

    • Be equivalent to 180 ECTS credits or more, i.e. it must be a degree of at least three years of full time studies
    • at least 30 ECTS in subjects relevant for the specialization or desired track so that the admitted students are able to start studies at advanced level
    • Give access to at least Master’s level studies in the country where the degree was conducted.

    Admission criteria

    To be eligible for regular admission, applicants need to have one of the following:

    • GMAT: a minimum overall test score of 550 in GMAT™ Exam or GMAT™ Online exam OR
    • GRE: a minimum score equivalent to 550 in GMAT in GRE™ Exam or GRE® General Test at homeYou can check if your GRE score is equivalent to 550 in GMAT by using the ETS official score conversion tool.
    • Exempted from this rule are applicants who have conducted the degree based on which they are applying at one of Hanken’s partner universities and whose GPAs meet the GPA requirement of at least Grade B (US grading scale). See the info for Group 1 for further instructions on how to fulfil this requirement.The last date to take the GMAT or GRE test is 14 January 2022. It is hence ok, that the actual test result reaches Hanken after the application deadline.

    All tests need to be valid when applying, +30 days after submitting your application.

    Language requirements

    One of the following language tests is required:

    For more information click here.

    Rolling admission

    Educational background

    Applicants for the Master in Economics and Business Administration in the rolling admission need to have the following the educational background to be eligible for admission:

    • In order to be eligible for admission you must hold a bachelor’s degree with the major subject Business Administration and/or Economics from a university or a polytechnic located outside Finland.
    • If the degree doesn’t clearly state Economics and/or Business Administration, then at least the equivalent of 80 ECTS needs to be completed in Business Administration and/or Economics (hereafter BA &/ Econ). 
    • In case the degree is a double degree/triple degree/transnational degree/joint degree, the university/universities which issued the degree certificate/certificates need to be recognized institutions in the country they are located.

    GPA certificate

    • The applicant also needs to submit an official certificate where the GPA in question is clearly stated if such a certificate can be issued by the degree awarding institution. The certificate can be either the degree certificate, transcript of records or a separate official certificate issued by the degree awarding institution.
    • If the applicant does not submit an official certificate where the GPA is clearly stated with their application, Hanken will verify that the GPA calculated by the applicant is correct. Hanken reserves the right to decide whether the applicant fulfills the GPA requirement or not.
    • Applicants who have not yet graduated at the time of applying, are required to calculate the GPA for the degree based on which are applying for the courses which are included in the transcript of records submitted with the application and, if possible, submit an official certificate where the GPA in question is clearly stated.
    • Note that when applying and submitting your application, your GPA needs to fulfill the requirement even if you have not graduated yet.

    Admission criteria

    To be eligible for rolling admission, applicants need to have one of the following:

    *Exempted from this rule are only applicants who have conducted their eligibility-granting BSc degree at one of Hanken’s partner universities for student exchange and whose GPAs meet the GPA requirement of at least Grade B+ (US grading scale) or 4.0 oon the 1-5 Finnish scale. Thus, if you are a BSc graduate from one of our partner schools you do not have to submit a GMAT/GRE test score.

    All tests need to be valid when applying, +30 days after submitting your application.

    Language requirements

    One of the following language tests is required:

    • TOEFL IBT test or TOEFL iBT® Home Edition: a minimum score of 92 (internet-based test)
    • IELTS Academic or IELTS Indicator (Academic): a minimum score of 6.5
    • Cambridge  C1 Advanced: Grade C
    • Cambridge C2 Proficiency (previous name CPE): a minimum result of C1 (or C if taken when the test was called CPE)
    • PTE Academic: a minimum 62
    • Bachelor’s/Master’s degree or secondary education conducted in English language in: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States (no other countries are accepted).*

    For more information click here.

  • Required documents

    Regular admission

    You need to submit the following documents electronically, in high quality scanned copies:

    • Copy of your Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree certificate/diploma + possible official translations (if you have graduated)
    • Official transcript of records + possible official translations
    • Diploma Supplement (if available) + possible official translations
    • Official GMAT or GRE test taker’s score report (if applicable)
    • Officially certified certificate of GPA
    • Certificate of English language proficiency
    • Photo copy of the applicant’s passport
    • Copy of your residence permit if it exempts you from the tuition fee requirement

    For more information click here.

    Rolling admission

    You need to submit the following documents electronically, in high quality scanned copies:

    • Copy of your Bachelor’s degree certificate/diploma + possible official translations if not in English, Swedish or Finnish (if you have graduated)
    • Official transcript of records + possible official translations if not in English, Swedish or Finnish
    • Diploma Supplement (if available) + possible official translations if not in English, Swedish or Finnish
    • GMAT/GRE: Official and valid GMAT or GRE test taker’s score report (all applicants, except graduates from one of Hanken’s partner universities for exchange)
    • Transcript of record/certificate where your GPA is clearly stated if you have graduated from one of Hanken’s partner universities for exchange (Hanken reserves the right to calculate and check applicants’ GPA)
    • Certificate of English language proficiency/test score report (IELTS, TOEFL, CPE etc) – test score needs to be valid
    • Photo copy of your valid passport
    • Copy of your residence permit if it exempts you from the tuition fee requirement

    For more information click here.

    Note: All documents need to be translated to English, Finnish or Swedish, if the original document is in none of those languages. The translations need to be signed and stamped by an authorized translator.

    After conditional acceptance, officially certified documents according to country-specific requirements from the institutions need to be sent in by the student to Hanken’s admission office within 30 days after accepting the conditional admission offer and paying the tuition fee. Exception: applicants who graduate after being conditionally accepted can send their official degree certificates until -.

  • Application instructions

    Read our general page about how to apply to study in Finland.

Tuition Fees & Scholarship

Tuition Fees

The fee for non-EU/EEA students at Hanken is 12 500 EUR/year. The tuition fee can be paid in two instalments, annually, in the following manner:

  • The first instalment is to be paid when accepting the offer of admission. The full annual tuition fee is to be be paid by 1 June, if studies are to start in August that same year, as it is mandatory in Finland to register as present for the full first year of enrolment, as it is mandatory to sign up as present for the full first year of studies after admission.
  • It is also possible to make the payment in one instalment when accepting the study place.
  • Second+ year students: first instalment is to be paid by 1 June, if studies are to continue during the Autumn semester. The instalment for the Spring semester needs to be paid by 30 November.

All non-EU/EEA students admitted to the Master’s Degree Programme in English are required to pay tuition fees at all universities in Finland. There are certain exemptions:

The fees will not concern those non-EU/EEA students who

  • are family members of an EU/EEA citizen (spouse/child; “EU –Family Member” stated on the residence permit card)
  • are already residing in Finland on a permanent basis (i.e. are equivalent to EU citizens, continuous (A) or permanent (P/P-EU) residence permit type)

More information concerning the exemptions to the requirement of tuition fee is found in the national application portal StudyInfo.

Hanken also offers a comprehensive scholarship system to support fee-paying students.

For EU citizens university education is free of charge.

All students in Finland regardless of nationality are obliged to pay an annual student union membership fee of approximately 120 EUR. More info on the student union fee is available on the Hanken Student Union’s home page.

Scholarships

Applicants are eligible to apply for a scholarship when applying to Hanken. All students admitted through rolling admission are to pay the tuition fee in full. After the application period has closed in May and students have been admitted, Hanken decides which student will be offered a scholarship. The scholarship is granted to the newly-admitted student on a merit-based system, where previous studies and high scores in aptitude and /or language tests are important.

  • Applying for a scholarship will not affect your application to the Master’s Degree Programme.
  • The scholarships at Hanken are merit-based. All scholarships are awarded based on the applicant’s academic excellence in the previous studies and applicable test score results.
  • All scholarships requirements demand the receiving students to keep a good pace within their studies. Annual check-ups are done to ensure that the student will graduate within two academic years. After two academic years the scholarship ends, and the student is required to pay tuition fees for the remain of their studies.

Scholarships offered to fee-paying students

  • Hanken Premium GBSN Scholarship, Covers the full tuition fee and 8000 EUR/year living expenses per academic year for two academic years
    • Hanken School of Economics offers two scholarships to students currently studying at or alumni of GBSN member schools from developing countries
    • Read more about GBSN scholarships at the official GBSN site.
    • The GBSN member schools are listed here.
  • Hanken Honors Scholarship, Covers the full tuition fee for two academic years
  • Hanken Honors Second Year Scholarship, exemption from the tuition fee during the second year of study for students who paid the tuition fee during year 1 and have studied successfully*.
  • Finland Scholarship, offers international students from outside the EU/EEA help in funding university education in Finland. Covers the tuition fee waiver of 12 500€ for the first year of enrolment and a 5000 euros relocation grant.

*defined in the scholarship agreement.

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