Economics and Business, Riga

About

The BSc programme provides a broad education in economics and business administration, with opportunities for specialization in the final year in any two of the following areas: Economics, Finance, Marketing, or Entrepreneurship.

The BSc in Economics and Business is designed as a three-year programme consisting of six semesters. Education in economics and business is combined with entrepreneurial experiences. The programme covers such areas as economics, finance, accounting, management, organisational behavior, and strategy. A range of elective courses is offered in social sciences, humanities and in topics of general interest.

The international environment formed by lecturers and students from different countries, with English as the language of instruction, adds to students academic, professional, social and personal development. The primary teaching method at SSE Riga is very intensive and interactive, and involves lectures, seminars, case-studies, assignments, project work and internships. Written examinations are given in each course.

The programme uses the ECTS credit system, which is an internationally recognized standard. The programme is accredited by the Latvian Ministry of Education and Science.

Detailed Course Facts

Application deadline April 8 Tuition fee

• EUR 6000 Year (EEA)
• EUR 6000 Year (Non-EEA)

Students from the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) are entitled to scholarships or tuition fee waivers reducing the yearly tuition fee to EUR 3,500.

Start date August 2015 Credits (ECTS) 180 ECTS
Duration full-time 36 months Languages Take an IELTS test

• English

Delivery mode On Campus Educational variant Full-time Intensity Flexible

Course Content

The academic curriculum of the BSc programme covers areas of both economics and business, thus allowing students to get a wider perspective and thus have more career options after graduation. The subject range is interesting both for mathematically-inclined students, students interested in finance or accountancy, or students with entrepreneurial spirit.

Core Courses

The core courses combine mainstream economics with various aspects of business. The four main blocks are as follows:

• Economics courses - include courses that cover the main areas of theoretical, applied and quantitative aspects of the subject, including also international and European aspects of economics. These courses advance understanding of the choices and behaviour of individuals, households, firms, and other organizations.
• Finance and Accounting courses - focus upon capital markets, finance, management accounting, financial accounting and financial management.
• Business Administration courses - provide an understanding of business, organisation, and strategy including common functionally based business courses and the courses in Ethics and Sustainable Business and Economic Anthropology that have become especially significant in recent years alongside a growing concern with the ethical practices of business and a more profound understanding of the nature of business.
• Research Methods courses - aim to help undergraduates understand research methods, and look at research in academic and applied contexts. These courses also aim to provide practical skills in finding and using sources of research information, research management, and basic data analysis techniques.
• Communication courses - teach powerful communication skills that enable undergraduates to bridge the gap between the everyday life and the university, be more effective in academic and professional situations and give professional training in team building and team dynamics. Given that the language of instruction is English, there is a strong emphasis on upgrading the knowledge and skills in communicating in English at an advanced level.

Elective Courses

A range of elective courses is offered.

• Humanities electives - offer language courses (French, German, Latvian for Foreigners, Russian, Spanish, Swedish), philosophy, etc.
• Social Sciences electives - allow for broadening the scope of studies; and students can choose to study topics such as globalization issues and development, audit and taxation in Baltics (sponsored by KPMG Latvia), publice finance, entrepreneurship and creativity, and branding communication.

Specialisation Courses

In the beginning of the last study year students should choose two from the four specialisation courses offered:

• Economics - focuses on an in-depth analysis of the role of the banking system in the economy from micro and macroeconomic perspectives.
• Finance - starts with topics on financial markets, including market design, price discovery, liquidity, informational efficiency and bubbles. This is followed by behavioural finance and portfolio management, corporate valuations and private M&A. The course emphasises empirical finance research methods that are relevant for the various topics.
• Marketing - focuses on learning from success stories of aligned brands, as well as considering current market and consumer trendsacross the globe. This is followed by tasks to explore how unique brand concepts are created and what opportunities there are for reposition an existing Baltic brand for the world market.
• Entrepreneurship the course is targeted towards the ability to develop appropriate business strategies, manage financial and human resources, generate sales, implement marketing and promotion strategies, understand micro and macro processes in the economy and communicate within a group that are the skills which can potentially add to the competitiveness of any business company. During the course students polish the ability to spot business opportunities and come up with an in-depth market analysis, plans and forecasts for their new business.

Each specialisation course aims to make every student a specialist within the area.

Bachelor's Thesis

To incorporate all the knowledge acquired during studies and to fulfill final degree requirements, students should undertake a major research task by writing a Bachelors Thesis. A student can complete the Bachelors Thesis individually or together with another student. Each student or pair of students developing a Thesis is entitled to a supervisor who advises regarding the planning and execution of the Thesis work. Additionally, SSE Riga provides a number of experts in selected fields who can give advise on the methodology and other parts of the Bachelors Thesis.

Evaluation

When evaluating student performance, SSE Riga applies a 200 point grading system (0 99/fail; 100 139/pass; 140 159/pass with merit; 160 200/excellent). In the Diploma Supplement students receive an academic transcript with the SSE Riga grades and ECTS grades that make the academic grade transcript compatible with international standards.

In total, to qualify for the BSc degree, students should earn 125 credit points (187.5 ECTS) and present a Bachelor's Thesis.

Internships

Internships are an important supplement for the academic side of the programme. Students should have two internships during the summer breaks after the first and the second year of studies. Internships are obligatory, and based on the employers evaluation and student self-evaluation reports, credit points are granted, verifying professional learning experience.

Internships take place during summer, when the study period is over, and usually last from 4 to 8 weeks. In total, all students must obtain at least 10 weeks of internship experience in order to graduate. The search process for internship placements is fully under student control. This process simulates a real job search, as students are actively looking for information about companies offering internships and participating in various career events.

Due to the fact that SSE Riga maintains close relationships with its alumni, quite a lot of job advertisements arrive via e-mail straight to students inboxes. Furthermore, many get in touch with their future employers during the SSE Riga career fair, Days of Opportunities, which takes place every April and attracts more than 40 companies from the Baltics.

Internships serve as a good starting point for students to develop their professional network. Very often, students receive full-time job offers from their internship companies upon graduation.

The most popular companies for summer internships among SSE Riga students include the Central Bank of Latvia, KPMG, LOreal, Omnitel, Procter & Gamble, SEB Group, Swedbank, and various others.

Further opportunities

The BSc programme gives students the skills and knowledge needed to be successful in their workplaces after graduation. Further opportunities for an SSE Riga graduate are broad even during an economic downturn students are appreciated by the top companies in the Baltics, and are welcome to pursue their academic interests in top-notch universities all over the world.

About one-fourth of SSE Riga recent graduates have found employment in accountancy, auditing and banking. During the last five years there has been a growing interest in IT and marketing related jobs as well as in positions in public institutions. A number of students start their own businesses. A few students undertake further study for a Masters degree right after graduation, but the majority prefer working for a few years and then pursuing graduate studies.

International faculty, frequent guest lectures, pan-European events and close cooperation with the business community significantly widens the perspective of SSE Riga students. It enables them to see more opportunities in both the corporate and academic world.

Requirements

• A secondary school education completed by July 2014 or earlier.
• Minimum grades in Mathematics and English: 7 on a scale of 10, or equivalent on a comparable scale.
• State examination results in Mathematics and English are required for candidates who will complete secondary education in 2014 in Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania.

All applicants who fulfil the formal entry requirements are welcome to submit an
on-line application form.

Work Experience

No work experience is required.

Want to improve your English level for admission?

Prepare for the program requirements with English Online by the British Council.

• ✔️ Flexible study schedule
• ✔️ Experienced teachers
• ✔️ Certificate upon completion

📘 Recommended for students with an IELTS level of 6.0 or below.

Enroll in the course

Related Scholarships*

• Academic Excellence Scholarship

  "The Academic Excellence Scholarship can provide up to a 50 % reduction in tuition per semester. These scholarships will be renewed if the student maintains superior academic performance during each semester of their 3-year Bachelor programme. The scholarship will be directly applied to the student’s tuition fees."

• Alumni Study Travel Fund

  Scholarships for students who are already attending the University of Reading.

• Amsterdam Merit Scholarships

  The University of Amsterdam aims to attract the world’s brightest students to its international classrooms. Outstanding students from outside the European Economic Area can apply for an Amsterdam Merit Scholarship.

* The scholarships shown on this page are suggestions first and foremost. They could be offered by other organisations than Stockholm School of Economics.

Funding

SSE Riga Alumni Scholarship Programme

The SSE Riga Alumni Scholarship is an initiative by the Alumni community who are willing to support talented and motivated young people from the Baltics by covering a tuition fee for one academic year of studies. The value of one scholarship is EUR 3,500 or EUR 1,750. The selection of scholarship recipients is based on financial need and academic potential. To apply for the Alumni Scholarship, a candidate should be officially admitted to the SSE Riga BSc programme and submit the following documentation:

• A scholarship application form
• An official statement on the students family income status (confidential information only used by the Scholarship Award Committee)
• CV
• A written statement describing academic objectives and explanations about special circumstances and financial constraints

The scholarship application documents should be submitted to SSE Riga Pro-rector. The assessment criteria to qualify for the scholarship are:

• Coming from a low-income family
• Special circumstances in the family and the dependency level (parents divorced or separated or a single-parent family)
• Academic potential based on the admissions results
• Academic motivation to pursue undergraduate studies at SSE Riga

The members of the Scholarship Award Committee (SAC) are: SSE Riga Rector, Pro-rector, Admissions Director, three Alumni Association representatives representing Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Grants

The Grant Programme provides additional financial resources to students who demonstrate academic achievement and research potential. There are merit-based awards and research assistantship grants available.

Student excellence - that's what we look for! Merit-based award recipients generally distinguish themselves academically and personally within our highly competitive student body. SSE Riga offers merit-based scholarships that are funded by corporate donors. The following grants are available:

• Zabolis Partners Awards
  Top 2 academic results upon finishing Year 1
• KPMG Awards
  Academic achievements in Accounting courses
• SEB Enskilda Award
  Academic achievements in Financial Economics

Research Assistantships

SSE Riga offers its students competitive research assistantships in academic and commercial research projects. These assistantships are awarded on the basis of merit. Students awarded assistantships benefit professionally and receive a modest financial reward.

Latvian State Guaranteed Student Loans

Students from Latvia as well as citizens of other EU countries, who have a temporary or permanent Latvian residence permit, can apply for the Latvian state guaranteed loan. State guaranteed loans have the advantage of flexibility and allowances with regard to the repayment of the loan. Students can choose between two options: Study fee loan (to cover the study fee) and Study loan (for daily expenses). The maximum amount of the study fee loan is limited to LVL 1284 for the year 2012/2013. The study loan for daily expenses amounts to LVL 120 per month.

To apply for a state guaranteed loan, students need a guarantor a person who is up to 65 years of age and can prove a minimum monthly income of LVL 200.

SEB - SSE Riga Loan Programme

While students are free to borrow money from any of the banks that offer student loans, SSE Riga has a cooperation agreement with AS SEB Banka in Latvia that gives students from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania an opportunity to get a loan from SEB on favourable terms. The loan is guaranteed by SSE Riga, and the maximum amount of the loan is LVL 8,000. The loan term is fixed for a ten-year period with an interest of 1.5% + 6M RIGIBOR; the interest should be paid starting with the day when the loan is issued.

Loans Guaranteed by the Estonian Government

Students who are citizens of Estonia or have a long-term residence permit for Estonia are eligible to apply for governmentally subsidized loans to study at SSE Riga in Latvia. To apply for these loans, students need to contact the commercial banks that in the respective year have won the tender to service governmentally guaranteed student loans.