MSc Business Administration

The University of Groningen’s MSc Business Administration is the fourth Dutch programme on this site — a one-year, fully English-taught generalist management master at the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), set in one of the Netherlands’ oldest and most established research universities.¹ It stands out for three things European applicants care about: no GMAT or GRE requirement, a very low EU/EEA fee, and two intakes a year. The University of Groningen does not appear in the FT Masters in Management table, so the read below draws on the school’s own published programme information rather than FT data.¹

Overview

The University of Groningen was founded in 1614, making it the second-oldest university in the Netherlands.¹ Its Faculty of Economics and Business is double-accredited by AACSB and EQUIS — two of the three international “crowns,” a standard only a small minority of business schools meet.⁵ The MSc Business Administration is a 60-ECTS, 12-month programme taught entirely in English, delivered as a single degree with five specialisation profiles, and admitting students in both September and February.¹

What distinguishes it from the more test-driven MiMs elsewhere in Europe is the admission route: there is no GMAT or GRE. Selection rests on the fit and strength of a relevant academic bachelor’s, with a structured pre-master’s bridge for applicants from adjacent backgrounds.³ For a strong undergraduate who would rather not sit an admissions test, that is a meaningful difference.

Curriculum & Structure

The programme is a single intensive academic year of 60 ECTS built around one of five specialisation profiles: Strategic Innovation Management, Change Management, Management Accounting and Control, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and a Health profile.¹ Students take a shared management foundation and then go deep in their chosen direction, finishing with a thesis or applied project.

The Health profile carries a notable extra: a double-degree option with Católica Porto Business School, letting students add an international qualification to the Groningen degree.¹ Across the profiles, the structure is the brisk, cohort-based single year common to the strongest one-year European master’s.

Application & Deadlines

Admission is test-free but selective: applicants need a relevant academic bachelor’s (business administration, economics, international business, econometrics or a closely related field, with sufficient quantitative and research content), and proof of English (IELTS Academic 6.5 overall, or TOEFL iBT 90).³ A pre-master’s programme (30–45 ECTS) exists for applicants whose background doesn’t directly match.³

Read the English exemption before you assume your degree covers it — Groningen’s is the narrowest in the Netherlands, and the university does not apply one rule to itself. The university-wide exemptions run to six countries: a “native speaker” with a full secondary education, or a three-year full-time bachelor’s, obtained in “the USA, UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and Canada (only when taught fully in English)”, plus the Dutch VWO and the European Baccalaureate.⁶ There is no medium-of-instruction route: an English-taught degree from India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ghana or Kenya exempts nobody here, however the transcript is worded. Faculties may add to that list, and the comparison is worth seeing — the Faculty of Law adds a twenty-entry list that reaches Jamaica, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guyana and Barbados, while the Faculty of Economics and Business, which runs this programme, adds exactly one route, and it is Groningen’s own English-language Pre-MSc.⁶ Two schools inside one university, two different answers for the same applicant. Certificates are valid for two years, except Cambridge, which Groningen accepts with no expiry at all.⁶ How the rest of Europe decides this is in our guide to IELTS and TOEFL for a European MiM.

The programme runs two intakes a year. On the school’s application page, applications for the February, May and September 2027 starts close on 15 October 2026, with the next February 2028 start closing 15 October 2027.⁴ EU/EEA applicants should confirm their cycle’s exact date on the programme page, as Dutch universities often set a later EU/EEA deadline than the non-EU/EEA one.

Tuition & Funding

The fee structure is one of the programme’s strongest draws. For 2026/27, EU/EEA students pay the Dutch statutory tuition rate of approximately €2,694 for the entire 12-month programme — among the lowest fees for any double-accredited management master’s in Europe.² Non-EU/EEA students pay the institutional rate of approximately €22,200.² Groningen is also a comparatively affordable Dutch student city, so total cost of attendance tends to sit below Amsterdam or the Randstad.

For a wider view of whether the numbers add up, see our analysis of whether a MiM is worth it in 2026 and what a MiM costs across Europe.

Career Outcomes

The University of Groningen does not appear in the FT Masters in Management 2025 ranking, and it does not publish a programme-level employment rate or starting-salary figure — so, in keeping with our policy of not inventing numbers, none are stated here. The school’s careers pages instead describe typical graduate destinations — management trainee, consultant, financial officer and organisational advisor — and name recruiters including ABN AMRO, Accenture, Deloitte, IBM, McKinsey & Company and KPMG.¹ Outcomes vary by the specialisation profile chosen. For the wider Dutch and European picture, see what a MiM pays in Europe.

Rankings & Reputation

The University of Groningen is a long-established research university that places well in general subject rankings (such as QS Business & Management Studies), and its Faculty of Economics and Business holds AACSB and EQUIS accreditation.⁵ The MSc Business Administration is not ranked in the FT Masters in Management table, nor in the QS Business Masters in Management table — Maastricht and RSM are the Dutch schools that appear there — so applicants comparing strictly on those tables should weigh that against Groningen’s accreditation, test-free admission and very low EU fee.

For applicants weighing the Netherlands, it is worth comparing the MSc Business Administration directly against Rotterdam School of Management, Maastricht University’s School of Business and Economics, and the University of Amsterdam — the other Dutch programmes we profile — on fee, ranking, intake, test policy and city. To see how the full European field lines up, browse the complete rankings and the program catalogue, and map your application timing on the deadline tracker.