Master's in International Business

SGH Warsaw School of Economics’ Master’s in International Business is the English-taught, two-year management master at Poland’s oldest and most prestigious university of economics — founded in 1906.¹ ⁴ ⁵ SGH carries the triple crown of accreditations (AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB) and is the only Polish member of CEMS, the route into the CEMS Master’s in International Management — yet charges a public-university fee of about €2,400 a semester (~€9,600 across the degree), a fraction of the marquee Western-European MiMs.¹ ² ⁴ ⁵

Overview

SGH (Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie) is the oldest and most prestigious university of economics and management in Poland, with a history stretching back to 1906 — a “nearly 120-year” lineage its own rector pointed to when the school completed its accreditation set in 2025.⁴ ⁵ For a long time Poland’s leading business school sat outside the Western-European brand conversation; what has changed is the quality signalling. In April 2025 SGH obtained AACSB accreditation, completing the triple crown alongside AMBA (2016) and EQUIS (2021) — a status fewer than 1% of business schools worldwide hold.⁵

Just as telling is its CEMS standing: SGH is the only Polish member of CEMS, the global alliance that admits one top business school per country, and has twice been named CEMS School of the Year (2016/17 and 2022/23).⁴ For an applicant, that combination — triple accreditation, CEMS membership and a genuinely low public-university fee — is what makes SGH a distinctive, value-led entry point into a European management master. For the wider context on these signals, see our explainers on triple-crown accreditation and the CEMS Master’s in International Management.

Curriculum & Structure

The Master’s in International Business is second-cycle (master’s) study lasting four semesters — two years — full-time and taught entirely in English, leading to the Polish magister degree.¹ The programme builds a broad international-management core and then opens into three specialisation tracks: Business in Central and Eastern Europe, Doing Business in Emerging Markets, and International Business Management — a focus that leans into SGH’s geography, treating the CEE region and emerging markets as a genuine area of expertise rather than an afterthought.¹

The international dimension is built in. SGH runs double-degree partnerships for this master with Prague University of Economics and Business, European University Viadrina and the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany, and EDHEC and TBS Education in France, and the programme is an explicit pathway to the CEMS MIM Global Programme — an international term at a partner school plus a corporate business project on top of the home master.¹ ⁴ It welcomes graduates from economics, management, law, engineering and related fields, so it works as a conversion route for non-business backgrounds as well as a continuation for them.¹ For how a programme like this compares with a one-word “MiM”, see MiM vs MSc in Management, and on entering from a different discipline, doing a MiM without a business degree.

Application & Deadlines

Admission is without the GMAT or GRE. SGH assesses applicants through an online registration and document review rather than a standardised aptitude test: you need a completed bachelor’s degree (any of a wide range of fields) and proof of advanced English — typically FCE/CAE/CPE, TOEFL iBT of at least 72, or IELTS of at least 5.5 — which is waived if your earlier studies were taught in English.¹ ⁶ Because no GMAT is used, there is no published score range; see our guide to a MiM in Europe without the GMAT.

The timeline is unusual in one important way: SGH runs a single annual intake, not rolling rounds. For the 2026/27 cycle, online registration in the Internet Registration System opened on 9 June 2026 and the main round for full-time English-taught programmes closed on 23 July 2026, with offer-acceptance and original-document steps running into August and September for an autumn start.³ With only one window a year, the binding constraints for an international applicant are this registration deadline and the time afterwards for a Polish student visa or residence permit, so plan early, think through Round 1 vs Round 2 timing in the context of a single-round school, and confirm the current cycle’s exact dates on SGH’s admissions schedule. Map your targets on our deadline tracker.

Tuition & Funding

Tuition is about €2,400 per semester for 2026/27 — roughly €9,600 across the two-year, four-semester programme — paid in euros, with a small surcharge (about €490 per instalment) if you spread a semester over five monthly payments.¹ ² SGH charges the same rate for its other English-taught masters apart from the ACCA-track finance degree, plus a small application fee.²

At under €10,000 for the whole degree, this is a public-university fee — a fraction of the €30,000–€45,000 the top private Western-European grandes écoles and UK schools command — and Warsaw’s markedly lower living costs compound the saving versus Paris, London or Zurich. That value is the headline reason to look at SGH: triple-accredited, CEMS-member quality at a price closer to a German or Nordic public university than to the private MiM market. For the wider cost picture, see the cheapest MiM in Europe shortlist, how much a MiM in Europe costs, and low-cost and tuition-free MiM options.

Career Outcomes

SGH does not publish a single headline graduate-salary figure for the International Business master on its public programme page, so — consistent with our sourcing policy — we do not quote one here; confirm current employment and salary data in the school’s own reporting.¹ What the school does describe are the destinations: graduates move into analyst and specialist roles in sales, export, marketing and logistics, and into middle- and senior-management positions in multinational corporations, international institutions and NGOs.¹

The portable signals that carry weight with recruiters are strong: the triple crown, CEMS membership (with its corporate partners and international placement), and a programme deliberately built around Central and Eastern Europe and emerging markets — a regional specialism that is genuinely useful for firms operating across the CEE corridor. Weigh whether the trade-off works for your target market in is a MiM worth it in 2026?, and on staying to work in the region, our guide to post-study work visas for MiM graduates in Europe.

Reputation

A century-plus of heritage (founded 1906), the AMBA / EQUIS / AACSB triple crown completed in 2025, CEMS membership with two School of the Year awards, and a place in the QS World University Rankings by Subject make SGH the clear academic leader among Poland’s business schools and a credible, value-led route into a European management master.⁴ ⁵ It is the strongest option for an applicant who wants internationally accredited, CEMS-connected quality — with a real focus on Central and Eastern Europe and emerging markets — at a public-university price rather than a premium Western-European one.

For the wider context, weigh SGH against the other European options on the full rankings, the cheapest MiM in Europe shortlist and the only other profiled Polish school, Kozminski University, and read how to build a MiM profile as you plan your application.

¹ SGH Warsaw School of Economics — Master studies in International Business (degree, 4-semester full-time English structure, three specialisation tracks, double-degree partners, CEMS MIM pathway, admission backgrounds, careers, €2,400/semester; retrieved 22 June 2026).

² SGH Warsaw School of Economics — Table of fees for graduate studies (2026/27) (€2,400 per semester one-time / €2,450 in instalments for English-taught masters; ACCA finance track €3,100; application fee; retrieved 22 June 2026).

³ SGH Warsaw School of Economics — Admissions schedule for graduate studies (international applicants) (2026/27 registration 9 June – 23 July 2026; offer-acceptance and original-document deadlines into August–September; single annual intake; retrieved 22 June 2026).

⁴ CEMS — SGH Warsaw School of Economics (oldest and most prestigious economics/management university in Poland; only Polish CEMS member; CEMS MIM; CEMS School of the Year 2016/17 and 2022/23; corporate partners; retrieved 22 June 2026).

⁵ Gazeta SGH — Third crown for SGH: AACSB accreditation obtained (AACSB 22 April 2025 completes the triple crown; AMBA 2016, EQUIS 2021; ~120-year history; fewer than ~1% of schools triple-accredited; retrieved 22 June 2026).

⁶ Study in Poland (NAWA) — SGH International Business (English-certificate requirements FCE/CAE/CPE, TOEFL iBT ≥72, IELTS ≥5.5; bachelor’s in any field; second-cycle four-semester master; retrieved 22 June 2026).