Description

Feeling ambitious and ready to kickstart your international business career? You’ve found the place.

Modern business is a competitive and demanding field, especially on the international stage. The Bachelor’s Programme in International Business in Mikkeli offers a unique learning experience to prepare you to thrive there.

In this accelerated 2.5-year degree programme, you will take one course at a time in three-week sprints based on agile learning methods and develop the project management skills needed in the real world of international business.

The unique class structure and tight deadlines will help you build close bonds with your classmates and train you to excel while thinking on your feet. You’ll gain concrete business knowledge fast, and frequent presentations will sharpen your ability to communicate your ideas to stakeholders, especially in English.

You’ll graduate with:

• In-depth business knowledge. You’ll have broad expertise in the core elements of business, such as accounting, economics, finance, information systems, management and marketing.
• Project management and teamwork experience. You’ll be ready to lead projects from initiation and planning to prioritisation and execution – meeting deadlines and expectations.
• Powerful leadership and communications abilities. Through practice, you’ll have developed excellent communication and presentation skills to lead teams or be a valuable team member.
• Strong international competences. Through your intense in-person courses, you’ll get a deep understanding of the international business world and develop your cultural flexibility.
• A big problem-solving toolbox. You’ll be well-prepared to address tactical and strategic challenges, thanks to your heightened skills in independent, scientific and analytical thinking.
• A lifelong network. You’ll form long-lasting friendships and fond memories with fellow students, professors and co-operating companies from Finland and abroad.

By the time you graduate, you’ll have excellent prospects for continuing your education or starting your international business career in the private or public sector, with a big team of current and former Mikkeli students behind you.

Language of instruction

Undergraduate studies at the Mikkeli Campus are offered in English. Before entering the programme, you should already have a good command of written and spoken English. Your lectures and group work will challenge you to take your language proficiency to the next level.

Tuition fees and scholarships

The tuition fee for this programme is 12 000 euros per academic year. Citizens of European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland do not pay tuition fees. Citizens of other countries must pay tuition fees.

Aalto University offers a small number of scholarships in the form of tuition fee waivers to fee-paying students. Scholarships can be awarded to the highest-achieving applicants based on the programme's evaluation criteria. Applicants are ranked according to the criteria outlined on the programme's webpage.

More information on tuition fees and scholarships at Aalto University is available at the Scholarships and Tuition Fees webpage.

Structure of studies

This programme takes a different approach compared to other degree tracks you might be considering. You’ll be studying only one course at a time, in three-week sprints with a fast pace and razor-sharp focus. Each class session is usually three hours long, with an emphasis on interactive lectures, group work, projects and presentations.

Since there’s so much packed into each session, your classmates will be depending on you to be there in the classroom. And with small class sizes, you’ll also have the chance to work one-on-one with your instructor, getting their support and expertise throughout the course.

With this structure, you’ll finish your bachelor's degree in 2.5 focused years instead of three or four.

Here’s how it works:

• The academic year consists of 15 three-week modules, including during the summer
• 1 module = 3 weeks, studying one course at a time
• In most courses, students earn 6 ECTS credits
• Classes are usually scheduled for three hours a day, five days a week, for 45 contact hours, including examinations
• Active participation and attendance are required

Year 1: Students complete the required core courses, business communications studies and language courses.

Year 2: In addition to some required courses, you’ll get to choose the electives that interest you most, for example:

• Brand Management
• Corporate Finance
• Global Game Industry
• Green Ventures
• International Arts Management
• Social Media Analytics
• Tools for Data Analysis

You’ll also get an introduction to research methods and start on your bachelor's thesis, which will build your independent research skills. To close out year two, you’ll take the Capstone Course, which is based on a business strategy game and serves as a recap of the first two years of study.

Year 3: In your final semester, you’ll study abroad at one of our many partner universities around the world to complete an International Minor.

Interested in the specific courses you’ll be taking? You can find these in detail in the Student Guide.

Specialisations

The bachelor’s programme at the Mikkeli campus focuses on a single major: International Business. The concentration of the studies in your major depends on the elective courses you choose – either accounting, economics, finance, information systems, management or marketing. The programme’s elective courses also combine elements from other fields of study, for example:

Green Ventures: sustainability and entrepreneurship.

Digital Disruption: computer science and artificial intelligence.

International Arts Management: business and arts.

On top of that, you can pick courses quite freely during your exchange semester abroad.

Internationalisation

This programme will have you working with fellow students and faculty from a wide variety of backgrounds, every day. You’ll work on everything from business simulations to research projects and presentations, not to mention enjoying free-time activities, events and celebrations. Compromising with students who have different perspectives and overcoming cultural differences is something you will get very familiar with – and skilled at – in this programme.

Many of the visiting faculty members also come from abroad. Each year, 60-70 professors are recruited from all over the world to teach at Aalto University’s Mikkeli Campus. This process has been ongoing for decades, so we invite only the best – top educators in their fields from some of the most prestigious universities in the world, who integrate globally competitive knowledge into their teaching and assignments.

An exchange semester is also included in the programme for no extra tuition, and you will be supported with a grant. Your options are open throughout Europe, Asia or North America from among more than 50 partner universities.

Further study opportunities

Graduating with your bachelor's degree means you can automatically continue on to master’s level studies in different fields in the Aalto University School of Business. Your study office advisor will work with you on a personal study plan to make sure you choose the right elective courses to move towards your goals without interruption.

Here are the currently available master’s programmes:

• Accounting
• Business Analytics
• Creative Sustainability
• Economics
• Finance
• Global Management
• Information and Service Management
• International Design Business Management
• Marketing
• People Management and Organizational Development
• Strategic Management in a Changing World
• Sustainable Entrepreneurship
• Yritysjuridiikka (Business Law, offered only in Finnish)

In your master’s programme at the Otaniemi Campus near Helsinki, you’ll get the chance to work with students from different degree tracks outside of business and deepen your knowledge where you want to make an impact.

Want to go all-in on research and academia? This programme will give you a solid initial foundation to complete PhD level studies in English at the Aalto University School of Business.

Career opportunities

Most students choose to continue to master’s or even PhD level studies, but that’s not the only path. Because this is an accelerated programme for ambitious business students, you can take several months between your bachelor’s graduation and the start of master’s studies, if you want. This gives you the chance to get valuable work experience – or work on your startup – during the gap.

Previous bachelor's graduates have had successful careers – and leadership roles – in positions across a wide range of industries, like marketing, sustainability, social media, and IT. Here are a few positions that might be open to you after graduating:

• Project manager
• Marketing manager
• Consultant
• Human resource specialist

Research focus

During your second year of studies, you’ll carry out thesis research on a topic that sparks your interest with help from an academic advisor. We’ve had a long history of research in the most current, interesting topics in business – electric vehicles, AI product development and gamification, to name a few recent examples.

These research projects are often done together with leading companies in Mikkeli, elsewhere in Finland, and beyond.

Co-operation with other parties

The three-week sprint learning model means you’ll never be studying alone, and you’ll also get to know your professors well. Outside of the classroom, you’ll spend your time within a small community of like-minded people from various backgrounds – the Mikkeli campus is known for its many student-led clubs and activities that thrive in the small university setting. These student clubs are integrated into the rich student community at Aalto University:

Probba: https://www.probba.org/

KY: https://www.ky.fi/

Business experts and alumni from Finland and abroad will also visit for guest lectures and events, and students often collaborate with local companies in Mikkeli to grow the regional opportunities in the area. You’ll also get the chance to go on several field trips in co-operation with international companies – for example, past students have visited Unilever to tour their facility as part of the International Marketing course.

The tight-knit environment in Mikkeli will put ambitious enthusiasts in your inner circle, sparking lifelong friendships and potentially even successful startups.

Contact information

Aalto University School of Business, Mikkeli Campus

In case of programme-specific questions, please contact the programme.

[email protected]

+358 50 4389837

https://www.aalto.fi/en/study-at-aalto/aalto-mikkeli-campus-whatsapp-service

Admission Services

If you have questions about the application and admission processes, you can reach out to Aalto University Admission Services.

[email protected]

https://www.aalto.fi/en/admission-services/contact-information-for-aalto-university-admission-services