Required previous studies

Here you can find the admission requirements concerning your educational background.

Admission to Master's degree studies requires a Bachelor's degree which grants access to at least Master level studies. 

The main admission round include additional subject-specific requirements regarding your previous studies and in the rolling admission round the qualifying degree must be a Bachelor's degree within Business Administration and/or Economics.

The information on this page does not apply to the Double Degree programme with Umeå University.

Main admission round


Bachelor's degree

  • You are eligible to apply to a master's programme if you hold a A Bachelor's degree.

Note, you cannot apply based on a master's degree. Only bachelor’s degrees give eligibility for master’s programmes at Hanken School of Economics. An exception to this is a ‘long-cycle’ master's degree that has been granted without a bachelor’s degree. Such a degree can be, for instance, a degree awarded in Finland prior to the adoption of the two-cycle degree system in 2008.

The Bachelor's degree must:

  • be equivalent to at least 180 ECTS or three years of full-time study;
  • give eligibility to apply for master’s degree studies in the country where the degree-awarding institution is located; and
  • be awarded by a higher education institution recognised as part of the official national education system of the country. The institution must be accredited as a degree-granting higher education institution by the country where it is located or by a relevant international organisation (such as UNESCO).
    • In case the degree is a double degree/triple degree/transnational degree/joint degree, the university/universities which issued the degree certificate/certificates must be recognised institutions and the degrees must grant access to at least Master's level studies in the country where the institutions are located.

Hanken reserves the right to decide whether a degree and/or university meet our requirements or not. 

Note! If your Bachelor's degree is completed within the EU/EEA or Switzerland (Admission Group 1), the GPA in your Bachelor's degree must meet the GPA requirement in order to be exempted from taking an aptitude test. It is not possible to meet the GPA requirement with a Master's degree.


Previous academic studies

  • At least 25 ECTS in subjects relevant to the intended Master's programme or 30 ECTS if you are applying to the Master's programme in Economics to ensure that you are able to start studies at advanced level is required. The studies must have been completed at a recognised higher education institution.
    • Subjects relevant to the intended programme, means that you must hold e.g. 25 ECTS in marketing if you are applying to the Master's programme in Marketing.
    • Note that the required ECTS do not necessarily need to be part of a degree.  The ECTS can be split up between multiple completed degrees, incomplete degrees or open university studies.
    • Fulfilling the minimum amount of required ECTS does not automatically lead to admission. It will be decided case by case whether the applicant has the knowledge required for studies at advanced level or not.
    • Hanken does not evaluate the relevance of the applicant's educational background in advance. The evaluation is only done during the processing of the applications with the application and attachments at hand.
       
  • Subject-specific requirements 
    If you apply to one of the following Master's programmes, the 25–30 ECTS in subjects relevant for the intended programme, must include the following subject areas:
     
    • Master's programme in Accounting 
      • At least 15 ECTS in external accounting
    • Master's programme in Economics
      • Studies in Econometrics on intermediate level or equal knowledge  
      • Studies in Microeconomics on intermediate level or equal knowledge 
      • Studies in Macroeconomics on intermediate level or equal knowledge
    • Master's programme in Finance 

Via the course name links you can read more about the exact course content at Hanken. It is not mandatory to have completed the specific course at Hanken, but you must have completed courses with corresponding content in order to fulfill the subject-specific requirements.


Bachelor's degree

  • You are eligible to apply in the rolling admission round if you hold a Bachelor's degree with the major subject Business Administration and/or Economics from a university or a university of applied sciences located outside Finland. 

If the degree does not clearly state the degree title or major subject above, then your Bachelor’s degree must include at least the equivalent of 80 ECTS of studies in Business Administration and/or Economics. It is also not possible to include credits from another degree in the 80 ECTS but they must be included in the qualfying Bachelor's degree.

Note, you cannot apply based on a master's degree. Only bachelor’s degrees give eligibility for master’s programmes at Hanken School of Economics. An exception to this is a ‘long-cycle’ master's degree that has been granted without a bachelor’s degree. Such a degree can be, for instance, a degree awarded in Finland prior to the adoption of the two-cycle degree system in 2008.

The Bachelor's degree must:

  • be equivalent to at least 180 ECTS or three years of full-time study;
  • give eligibility to apply for master’s degree studies in the country where the degree-awarding institution is located; and
  • be awarded by a higher education institution recognised as part of the official national education system of the country. The institution must be accredited as a degree-granting higher education institution by the country where it is located or by a relevant international organisation (such as UNESCO).
    • In case the degree is a double degree/triple degree/transnational degree/joint degree, the university/universities which issued the degree certificate/certificates must be recognised institutions and the degrees must grant access to at least Master's level studies in the country where the institutions are located.

Hanken reserves the right to decide whether a degree and/or university meet our requirements or not. 

Note! If your Bachelor's degree is completed within the EU/EEA or Switzerland (Admission Group 1), the GPA in your Bachelor's degree must meet the GPA requirement in order to be exempted from taking an aptitude test. It is not possible to meet the GPA requirement with a Master's degree.

You can apply for admission even though you have not graduated at the time of submitting your application. However, note that only the completed courses listed on the transcript of records that you submit in the application form will be considered in the admission process.  

The admission offers for applicants graduating in the spring of applying will be conditional until they have delivered officially certified copies of their degree certificate or temporary degree certificate and final transcript no later than 31.7.2027.  

Read more about conditional admission offers here.