About the School

CEU Business School and George Soros

CEU Business School was founded in Budapest in 1988 by a group of visionary leaders headed by legendary investor and philanthropist George Soros.

We are rapidly emerging under our new leadership. With assistance from an endowment 3x the per-student value of that possessed by Oxford and Cambridge, we offer a program which is uniquely relevant for today's challenges, and which is offered at a highly subsidized tuition rate.

CEU Business School was the first educational institution in the Central-Eastern Europe region to train managers by offering a western graduate business program leading to an American MBA. Since its inception, the school has pursued the goal of developing standards in line with Western institutions, while ensuring timely and relevant consideration of the changes within the region’s transforming economies.

We believe, along with George Soros, that the world needs managers capable of dealing with rapidly changing environments and appreciating the impact of their actions on the business, social, and natural environment. Thus, the mission has evolved to a more global one focused on emerging economies as a particular opportunity to impact new managers and how they influence our future.

A global financier and philanthropist, George Soros is the founder and chairman of a network of foundations that promote the creation of open, democratic societies, based upon the rule of law, market economies, transparent and accountable governance, freedom of the press and respect for human rights. CEU's diverse activities including top-education, world-class research and influential international conferences are a key pillar in this mission to build open societies worldwide.

Every year, Mr. Soros attends the CEU Graduation Ceremony to personally hand over the Diplomas to all students graduating and is active as an advisor, advocate and guest lecturer.

Degrees Relevant to Today’s World

CEU Business School offers various programs, including a Full-Time MBA, an Executive MBA (part-time), masters programs in IT Management and Finance, several tailored Executive Education Programs, and, together with six other top-flight global business schools, offers the International Masters in Management (IMM) Executive MBA.

Our Full-Time and Executive MBA programs help students develop the entrepreneurial skills and perspectives to manage new and established ventures anywhere in the world. They also help students learn how to create value in emerging economies and harness experimentation and creativity to become more innovative. Our MBA programs place particular emphasis on cultivating professional values anchored by integrity, ethics and transparency.

Our MSc in IT Management program is designed for managers or prospective managers with a technical background who need to develop the business, finance and leadership skills for advancement or entrepreneurship. Our Masters in Finance program has been created from the ground up to serve twenty-first century financial professionals around the world. It is also well suited for those looking to enter the finance profession or who are in other roles such as marketing or general management who want to develop their financial skills.

In addition to our graduate programs, CEU Business School has played an important role in undergraduate management education. From 2005 to 2013, the Business School offered a Bachelor of Science in Global Management degree. During those years, we also offered a joint program with Université Commerciale Luigi Bocconi in Milan, Italy in which students spent two years studying in Milan and two years studying in Budapest. The program led to an American Bachelor of Business Administration in International Business degree from CEU and an Italian Degree (Laurea) in International Economics and Management (BIEM) from Bocconi University.

Accreditation

Central European University (CEU) is organized as an American graduate institution, governed by a Board of Trustees. It was incorporated in the State of New York. The university has an absolute charter from the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York, for and on behalf of the New York State Education Department. 

In the United States, CEU is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools: 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States. Phone: (1 215) 662 5606.

Central European University (CEU), in Hungary Közép-európai Egyetem is accredited by the Hungarian Adult Education Accrediting Body (in Hungarian, Felnőttképzési Akkreditáló Testület [FAT]). The Executive MBA program is also accredited as an adult education program by FAT. (Please note: we are now exploring the Hungarian accreditation process for our full-time MBA program.)

As of September 2010 the full-time MBA program runs as a higher educational program of the Central European University N.Y. and the Közép-európai Egyetem. Both MBA programs are operated by the CEU Business School.

Our Adult Education Registration Number is 00871-2010, our Institutional Accreditation Registration Number is ALF-051.

CEU Business School's MBA programs are accredited by the Association of MBAs (AMBA), one of the three internationally recognized MBA/Business School accrediting agencies.

History at a Glance

Since its inception as “International Management Center” (IMC) in 1988, CEU Business School has evolved through three periods.

From 1988 to 1995 IMC students were taking their first-year courses in Budapest and moved to one of our partner schools in Western Europe and North America to complete their studies and receive their MBA diplomas.

From 1996 to 2001 IMC had been a franchise of Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management in Cleveland, Ohio.

Since 2002 we are officially recognized as the Business School of Central European University.