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BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

About the programme 
Language: English  (See language requirements)  | Place of study: Aarhus  |  Commencement: August / September and January / February (only applicants with a legal right of admission can apply)

Introduction

The Master’s degree in Business Administration will provide you with a theoretical understanding of business studies relevant to the fiscal and organiational management of companies. You will work with economic theory and formal modelling as you learn how best to manage and optimise business operations. The degree gives you great freedom to design your own academic profile within, for example, international marketing, management accounting, innovation management and human resource management.

The degree gives you the possibility to combine business administration with another Master’s supplementary subject, to choose a pure business administration profile, or you may choose the Business Psychology or Business Innovation specialisation.

Career options

With a degree in Business Administration, you can find employment within the marketing or human resources departments of international companies, within the public sector or with the recruitment departments of consultancy firms. Your career options will be directly influenced by your choice of Master’s supplementary subject. If you for instance choose a language as a supplementary subject, you would increase your chances of working within marketing, while combining business administration with psychology would give you opportunities within HR and recruitment.

Admission requirements

Bachelor's degrees with direct admission

Students that hold a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration (BA i Erhvervsøkonomi med tilvalg) or a BSc in Economics and Business Administration (HA) from Aarhus University can pursue direct admission to the MSc in Social Sciences in Business Administration after they complete their Bachelor’s degree programme.

Students that hold a degree from another university

If you hold a degree from another university, your qualifications will be assessed once you have applied for admission. The assessment will prioritize the sufficient content of the following subjects and ECTS-points:    

Subject

ECTS

Methods, including statistics and IT*    

15 ECTS

Marketing

7,5 ECTS

Finance

7,5 ECTS

Accounting

7,5 ECTS

Organisation- and Leadership Theory    

7,5 ECTS

Microeconomics og Macroeconomics (both subjects must be included)

10 ECTS

Additional ECTS points within the above mentioned areas

25 ECTS

Total ECTS within Economics and Business Administration

80 ECTS

* Methods may include, for instance, qualitative and quantitative methods as well as philosophy of science. IT and statistics must be covered explicitly.

Furthermore, applicants for the two-track specialisation on the Business Administration programme must previously have completed a Bachelor’s supplementary subject within one of the subjects taught at upper-secondary school level.

Download appendix for your application

If you apply for admission with an international Bachelor's degree, you must fill in this appendix and upload it in the application portal. The appendix serves to help the Admission Board assess your Bachelor's degree in regard to the admission requirements. 

Download appendix

Language requirements

As English is the language of instruction in all subjects, all applicants are required to provide evidence of their English language proficiency.
Please see the page on language requirements.

Restricted admission from 2025

As from the intake 2025, the Master’s degree programmes in Business Administration (cand.merc.) only admits a limited number of students each year. Therefore, meeting the admission requirements does not in itself guarantee admission to the programme. 

Please note that special rules regarding supplementary Bachelor’s courses apply for programmes with restricted admission. Therefore, we no longer offer pre-assessments for the programme in Economics and Business Administration (cand.soc.).

Read more about supplementary Bachelor’s courses.

Selection criteria

Business Administration, Business Administration with a Master’s supplementary, and Business Psychology

The following criteria are emphasised in the selection process:

  • average mark (i.e. GPA) of the Bachelor’s degree (75%)*.
  • the number of relevant courses (measured in ECTS) included in the Bachelor's degree courses (25%) in addition to the ECTS included in the admission requirements**.

*Please note that marks/grades obtained after the application deadline will not be included in the GPA.

** Relevant courses are courses in Organisation- and Leadership Theory. Please note that the relevant courses must be passed at the application deadline to be included in the application. See schematic overview below.

Subject:

Programme:

Organisation- and Leadership Theory

Business Administration, Business Administration with a Master’s supplementary, Business Psychology

The courses are assessed based on the following point system: 1 point per additional ECTS in courses relevant to the programme applied for. For example, if you have 10 ECTS in a relevant subject area where the admission requirement is 7.5 ECTS, you get 2.5 points.

Business Innovation

For Business Innovation the selection of candidates from among qualified applicants will be performed on the background of interviews. Applicants must upload a CV with the application that describes relevant previous experience. Applicants with a legal right of admission must also upload their CVs in case it becomes necessary to prioritise among such applicants. During the interviews, applicants will be asked to explain why they believe their previous academic qualifications and other relevant experience qualify them for admission.

Programme structure

You can choose between three specialisations:

  • You can choose to combine business administration with a Master’s supplementary subject. Here you will initially continue with the supplementary subject you have previously studied for your Bachelor’s degree, before continuing with business administration courses until you complete the degree with your Master’s thesis.
  • You can choose a pure business administration programme, which is comprised of business administration courses for three semesters before you complete the degree with your Master’s thesis.
  • You can choose a more focused specialisation combining business administration with psychology or Innovation. Read more about the Business Psychology and Business Innovation specialisation.

Academic regulations


Student life

Learning in an International Context

At Aarhus BSS, we conduct research at the highest academic level.

All researchers employed are engaged in research projects covering a wide range of different sub-jects and focusing on knowledge and skills considered essential for professional business activities in the global marketplace. All faculty have both research and teaching responsibilities, which means that our teaching is continually based on the latest research results.

Aarhus BSS is very internationally oriented. The broad scope of our research activities and edu-cational programmes enable us to attract researchers, teachers, and students from all over the world, and this creates an international environment for research and learning in which academic views are ex-changed, experiences are gathered and friendships are formed.

Aarhus University is a leading university in Denmark in building student exchange opportuni-ties. The university encourages all students to spend time studying abroad. Every year, more than 700 students from Aarhus BSS go abroad to participate in exchange programmes around the world at our more than 300 partner universities. About the same number of students from all over the world come to participate in the exchange programme in Aarhus, and this contributes to a truly interna-tional learning atmosphere.

Follow the student life at Aarhus University

-experienced, photographed and filmed by the students themselves.

With thousands of pictures #AUInternational, #AarhusUni gives insight into the everyday life as a student at AU; the parties, procrastination, exams and all the other ways you’ll spend your time at university.

The photos belong to the users, shared with #AUInternational and #AarhusUni.

Career

Job functions for grads

The chart shows the five most common types of work for graduates 1-2 years after finishing their degree. The data is derived from a survey made by Epinion for the Ministry of Higher Education and Science and Aarhus University in 2020.

With a degree in Business Administration, you can find employment within the marketing or human resources departments of international companies, within the public sector or with the recruitment departments of consultancy firms. Your career options will be directly influenced by your choice of Master’s supplementary subject. If you for instance choose a language as a supplementary subject, you would increase your chances of working within marketing, while combining business administration with psychology would give you opportunities within HR and recruitment.