Master of Science in Complementary Studies in Business Economics (Business Economics)
The Master in Business Economics has two main subjects, i.e. Business Economics and Taxation. In the field of Business Economics, you will become acquainted with the internal structures and processes that enable companies to achieve their objectives. The field of Taxation is gaining importance every day, as more and more individuals, companies and associations are confronted with increasingly complex taxation legislation.
This program is accredited by AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. AACSB is a global nonprofit association whose accreditation processes are ISO 9001:2015 certified.
What
The Business Economics main subject studies the functional aspects of an organisation: from its inception and management to its funding, financial reporting, administrative organisation, HR, production and sales of goods and services, and the role of management. Upon graduation, you will have learnt to look out for economic and entrepreneurship opportunities and understand the social implications of business economic decisions. In this programme, you will learn to combine previously acquired knowledge and skills with an understanding of business economics.
For whom
The admission requirements vary. Depending on your prior education, you are either able to enrol directly, or there are additional requirements.
Structure
The study programme consists of a preparatory programme and a Master’s programme. The preparatory programme comprises a thorough basic knowledge of business economics
The actual Master’s programme (60 ECTS) contains five mandatory course units with a focus on the thorough mastery of financial and general management. You learn how to prepare a full financial statement and to interpret the numbers for investment decisions and valuation. You learn to assess the impact of different financing models on the value of an enterprise and to use cost price in decision and operational processes. In addition, the programme offers you a framework to think about the strategic choices organisations are faced with. The mandatory course units aside, the curriculum contains 21 ECTS worth of electives to either deepen your knowledge of one domain or broaden your knowledge across various domains. You can choose between the following clusters: entrepreneurship, service management, business informatics and operations management, corporate finance, accountancy or marketing and HR.
The Master's dissertation (15 ECTS) gauges your ability to apply the acquired knowledge to an in-depth study of a topic you choose. In consultation with your supervisor, you either define a topic within the field of economics, or you think of a topic yourself (from your prior education), that you wish to study further in an economic light.
Exemptions based on previously acquired credits are possible. In other words, if you think ahead, you can choose elective course units in your initial study programme that are in line with the preparatory or the Master’s programme.
Labour Market
Prospective employers increasingly expect employees to be familiar with business economics concepts and relationships. They must be able to think and communicate economically within a complex, corporate social context. Your background in business economics is an important asset in the labour market, and often even a requirement. Whether you are a lawyer, psychologist or engineer, you function better in an organisation if you understand how it works and its economic context. Every interested and ambitious young person, therefore, needs a solid knowledge of a company’s operation or organisation.
Quality Assurance
At Ghent University, we strive to educate people who dare to think about the challenges of tomorrow. For that purpose, we provide education that is embedded in six strategic objectives: Think Broadly, Keep Researching, Cultivate Talent, Contribute, Extend Horizons, Opt for Quality.
Ghent University continuously focuses on quality assurance and quality culture. The Ghent University's quality assurance system offers information on each study programme’s unique selling points, and on its strengths and weaknesses with regard to quality assurance.
More information:
Unique Selling Points
- Effectiveness: without a doubt our greatest asset is the fact that we can impart a great deal of business economics-related knowledge and skills in a relatively short term. Our students can therefore more than stand their ground in the labour market alongside students of Business Economics or Business Administration.
- Talent development: we offer our students a lot of freedom of choice to tailor a large part of their curriculum to their own interests.
- Curriculum: our study programme imparts a great deal of specific knowledge based on scientific-academic insights. After graduation, our students are able to start a PhD in Business Economics.
- Communication and collaboration skills: through numerous assignments, our students learn to work together on business economics-related themes and to report in a professional manner, both in written and oral form.
- Focus on environment and society: we pay attention to how business decisions can take into account environmental and social welfare aspects.
Strengths
- Our programme boasts a student-friendly team of lecturers with a demonstrable academic track record and international recognition. At the same time, they focus on low-threshold contact with students.
- Assessment: our students are well informed in advance about the assessment methods and exam expectations.There is ample opportunity for feedback.
- Making use of the multiperspectivism within the programme: our programme has a diverse student intake with a previous non-economic degree. We bring students with different prior education together. This allows them to exchange previously acquired insights and apply them to economic aspects.
Weaknesses
- In the future, we want to involve even more people from the business world in our programme. Given that many students take the programme in order to increase their chances on the labour market, there must be a good mapping between the programme competencies and the skills needed in the business world.
- Alumni activities can still be improved: our students’ relatively short stay (i.e. often nine months) at our faculty, the bond with the faculty and the study programme is not strong, and quickly lost after graduation. We would like to take initiatives to strengthen the bond with our graduates.
This study programme is accredited by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (Dutch: NVAO). Accreditation was extended following the positive outcome of the institutional review in 2022. Programme quality was validated by a quality review (peer-learning visit) in 2019. A screening of the Education Monitor by Ghent University’s Education Quality Board is planned in the years 2021-2024.
This program is accredited by AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. AACSB is a global nonprofit association whose accreditation processes are ISO 9001:2015 certified.
This information was last updated on 01/02/2023.
In case of questions or suggestions with regard to the publicly available information, please contact the study programme.