MSc in Economics and Business Administration

Hanken School of Economics placed 60th worldwide in the Financial Times Masters in Management 2025 ranking, with a weighted three-year salary of approximately US $67,000 and a 94% employment rate at three months.⁶ The headline figure that defines the school’s value proposition, however, is cost: for students from the EEA, EU, or Switzerland, tuition is entirely free — an exceptional combination with a ranked, double-accredited degree at a specialist Nordic institution.

Overview

Hanken is a Finnish specialist business school founded in Helsinki in 1909, with over 115 years of continuous operation.¹ It is one of the Nordic region’s smallest and most focused business schools — school-wide enrolment spans roughly 75 nationalities, with approximately 80 new international master’s students each autumn — which gives it a notably high staff-to-student ratio and close industry ties across the Nordic region.⁴

The FT-ranked programme is the MSc in Economics and Business Administration, taught entirely in English.³ Within that umbrella degree, the flagship major for internationally focused students is International Strategy and Sustainability — a specialism that positions graduates at the intersection of cross-border corporate strategy and the sustainability transition reshaping European business.³ Other majors include Finance, Accounting, Marketing, and Management and Organisation.

Hanken holds both EQUIS (since 2000) and AACSB (since 2015) accreditations, placing it among the minority of European business schools to carry dual independent quality marks.¹ For a broader perspective on whether a specialised MiM is the right credential, see our guide on whether a MiM is worth it in 2026.

Curriculum & Structure

The MSc runs for 24 months (120 ECTS) and is structured around a chosen major.³ Core coursework establishes grounding in economics, research methods, and business fundamentals, while the major provides concentrated depth. The International Strategy and Sustainability major draws on Hanken’s strong research tradition in international business and its geography — Helsinki’s position as a Nordic hub for sustainability-driven multinationals, energy transition companies, and Nordic-Baltic trade corridors shapes both curriculum design and guest lecturers.

The programme’s small scale means tutorials and seminars are genuinely small-group experiences rather than lecture-hall substitutes. A thesis is required, and students are encouraged to pursue exchange semesters at partner institutions to broaden their European and global networks. The 120-ECTS load is standard for Finnish universities under the Bologna framework.

Application & Deadlines

Hanken admits to the MSc for a September start, and it runs two admission rounds rather than one — a distinction this page previously missed, and one that changes both the deadline you are working to and the score you need.⁷

The main admission round is the general one: open to every applicant holding a bachelor’s or master’s degree, and open to all of Hanken’s English-taught master’s programmes.⁷ The rolling admission round is narrower on three axes at once. It is open only to applicants whose bachelor’s has a major in business administration and/or economics obtained outside Finland; it applies to four programmes only — International Strategy and Sustainability, Marketing, Marketing and Management (Vaasa) and Supply Chain Management; and Hanken describes it as carrying “higher admission requirements than in the Main Admission Round” in exchange for a “quicker admission process”.⁷ So the rolling route is a faster answer at a higher bar, not an easier second chance.

The latest published cycle is the 2026 intake, read at source on 4 September 2026: the main round ran 7–21 January 2026 and the rolling round 8 December 2025 – 15 April 2026, with the International Strategy and Sustainability quota recorded as filled for that round — a reminder that in a rolling process a programme can close before its stated end date.⁷ Dates for the 2027/28 intake are not yet published, so treat the January-window shape as the planning assumption and confirm the exact dates when Hanken posts them.

For broader strategic framing of the application process, see our guide on how to build a MiM profile.

What Hanken actually requires — and why the answer is a grid

Hanken splits applicants into two admission groups, and the requirement is then set by the group and the round together.⁸ Group 1 — applicants from Finland, the EU/EEA, Switzerland or a Hanken partner university — has a grade route with no test: a GPA of at least a B on a US scale (3.0 on the Finnish 5.0 scale) in the main round, rising to a B+ (4.0 on the Finnish scale) in the rolling round.⁸ Group 2 — applicants from outside the EU/EEA — must submit a test: in the main round a GMAT Focus Edition 515, a previous-format GMAT 550, or 150 on GRE quantitative reasoning; in the rolling round those become 555, 600 and 158.⁸

Underneath both sits a study-volume requirement: at least 25 ECTS in subjects relevant to the programme applied for — 30 ECTS for the Economics programme — in the main round, and, for the rolling round, a bachelor’s in business administration and/or economics carrying at least the equivalent of 80 ECTS in those fields.⁹ Some programmes add named subject content on top: accounting requires at least 15 ECTS in external accounting, finance expects portfolio management, derivative contracts and corporate finance, and economics expects intermediate econometrics, micro and macro.⁹

Hanken is explicit that clearing the floor is not the same as being admitted: *“Fulfilling the minimum amount of required ECTS does not automatically lead to admission. It will be decided case by case whether the applicant has the knowledge required for studies at advanced level or not.”*⁹ What Hanken does not publish on these pages is a points table or a ranking rule — so unlike Aarhus, which lists its ranking criteria in order, the assessment above the threshold is not visible from outside.

For broader strategic framing of the application process, see our guide on how to build a MiM profile.

Tuition & Funding

The tuition structure is the feature that makes Hanken unusually compelling in a European MiM comparison.² EEA, EU, and Swiss students pay no tuition — the Finnish public funding model covers fees in full. For non-EEA students, the programme costs €15,000 per year (€30,000 total). This is the rate Hanken publishes for studies starting 1 August 2024 and later, and it is unchanged as of August 2026.² Three mechanisms reduce it: the Early Commitment offer takes 25% off the full tuition fee — to €11,250 per year — but only if you accept your place and pay within 21 days of the acceptance letter, which is a real deadline rather than a formality; a separate Hanken honour waiver gives second-year master’s students a 25% waiver, granted annually and valid for one year at a time; and the GBSN Honor Scholarship can waive 100% of fees for qualifying applicants from developing countries.²

Living costs in Helsinki are moderate by Northern European standards. The combination of a free or near-free programme, a ranked degree, and dual EQUIS-AACSB accreditation makes Hanken one of the strongest value-per-ranking-point arguments in European MiM.² For a discussion of how to weigh cost against outcomes, see our piece on figuring out what you want.

Career Outcomes

The Financial Times 2025 ranking reports a weighted three-year salary of approximately US $67,000 and a 94% employment rate at three months for Hanken MSc graduates — these are the FT’s standardised cross-school metrics.⁶ Hanken does not publish its own separate salary or employer breakdown for the MSc, so no school-reported figure is available for comparison. The FT figure should be read as a standardised benchmark rather than a starting-salary guarantee, given it weights earnings three years post-graduation and adjusts for country of employment.

Graduates are well positioned for roles in Nordic and European multinationals, particularly in sectors where Hanken’s sustainability and international strategy emphasis has direct applicability: energy transition, Nordic-Baltic corporate functions, international consulting, and financial services. The school’s Helsinki location and its alumni network across the Nordic business community are consistent career accelerators for those intending to work in or through the region. For context on MiM-to-career pathways more broadly, see our piece on MiM vs MBA.

Campus & Reputation

Hanken’s main campus is in central Helsinki, with a second campus in Vaasa, Finland’s energy capital.¹ The Helsinki campus offers direct access to Finland’s corporate ecosystem, including the headquarters of major Nordic and international companies. Hanken’s scale — intentionally small — means the school invests heavily in faculty quality and research output relative to student volume, and its FT ranking reflects consistent graduate outcomes rather than marketing scale.⁵ Its dual accreditation and its over-115-year history give the degree solid recognition with graduate employers across Europe.¹

Applicants comparing Finland’s two specialist business schools should also look at Aalto University School of Business, whose MSc in International Management is the triple-crown, CEMS-linked alternative across the city in Espoo — see all the options on our Master in Management in Finland hub.