Business Administration

Check if you meet the programme requirements and sign up

• I have a School of Business and Economics Degree from VU Amsterdam

  We welcome motivated and ambitious students who are actively developing themselves and are aware of their position and role in society. In order to be successful in this programme you will need a solid academic basis in, for instance, (International) Business Administration, Economics, Industrial Engineering & Management or related disciplines.
  
  Admission requirements
  With a Bachelor's degree in (International) Business Administration, Economics or Econometrics and Operations Research from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam you are admissible provided you are strongly motivated and successfully meet the requirements in this document. 
  
  Services for international (EBE, EDS, EOR, IBA) students / Residence permit:
  If you are planning to continue your studies at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam after your SBE Bachelor, please contact the Central Admission’s Support Team of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam for further information and specific questions about the offered services for international students like extending your residence permit. You will need to apply for extension of your residence permit if you continue your studies at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

• I have a Dutch university level (WO) bachelor’s degree (VU bachelor’s degree, VU pre-master's or bachelor’s degree at another university)

  The Master programme Business Administration is open to motivated students with a university bachelor's degree that provides relevant knowledge in Business Administration. Also, we take into account your motivation, prior relevant work experiences, and any relevant volunteering experiences and/or citizenship behaviors.

  You need to have successfully completed courses and studied literature related to the core of the programme/specialization with at least:

  • 12 EC in Research Methods
  • 12 EC in Business Administration

  See the details per specialization below.

  Research Methods (12 EC)
  You need to have successfully completed courses and studied literature related to the research methods of this programme, covering:

  • An intermediate-level understanding of the foundations of qualitative (e.g., interviewing, observations) and quantitative (e.g., reliability, validity, correlations, factor analyses).
  • Example text book: Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill (2019). Research Methods for Business Students, 8th Edition. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited/Prentice Hall.

  Business Administration (12 EC)
  You need to have studied literature and successfully completed 12 EC in Business Administration, with some EC  related to the subject of the specialization:

  International Management

  • Course in International Management
  • Example text book: C. Hill (2023). International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace. 14th edition, McGraw-Hill Education.

  Leadership and Change Management

  • Courses in Organizational behavior/ Organization Theory/ Strategic Management.
  • Example text books:
    • Sinding et al. (2016). Organisational Behaviour. 6th edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill  
    • Brehm, S. S. Kassin, S. M., & Fein, S. (2004). Social Psychology. 6th edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin
    • Jaffee, D. (2008). Organization Theory: Tension and Change. London: McGraw-Hill
    • Hitt, M. A., Ireland, D. R., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2014). Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization – Concepts and Cases, 11th Edition. Stamford: South-Western College Pub

  Management Consulting

  • Courses in Strategy/ Organizational Theory and Change
  • Example text books: 
    • De Wit, B. (2021). Strategy: An international Perspective. 7th Edition. Cengage Learning, UK
    • Jones, G.R. (2012) Organizational Theory, Design and Change. 7th edition, Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall
    • O’Mahoney and Mangham (2013) Management Consultancy 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press

  Strategic Human Resource Management

  • Courses in Human Resource Management and Organization Behavior
  • Example text books: 
    • Sinding et al. (2016). Organisational Behaviour. 6th edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill 
    • Kinicky (2020). Organizational Behavior. A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach. 3rd edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill
    • Management Noe et al. (2022). Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. 9th edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill
    • Boselie and van der Heijden (2024). Strategic Human Resource Management: A Balanced Approach. 3rd edition. McGraw-Hill.

  Strategy and Organization

  • Courses in International Strategy/ Strategic Management
  • Example text books: 
    • De Wit, B. (2021). Strategy: An international Perspective. 7th Edition. Cengage Learning, UK.
    • Hitt, M. A., Ireland, D. R., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2019). Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization – Concepts and Cases, 13th Edition. Cengage Learning, UK.

  Do you want to know if you’re directly admissible to the specialization of your choice, please apply via Studielink and upload your application file in your VU Dashboard. The admission board will assess your request and send you an admission decision. If there’s a lack of previous knowledge this admission decision also contains a tailor-made transfer programme for you.

  Do you want to check your admissibility for more than one specialization? Please apply for one specialization via Studielink/VU.nl and send an email per specialization including your application file to admissions.sbe@vu.nl.

  With a bachelor's degree in (International) Business Administration, Economics or Econometrics from a Dutch university other than VU Amsterdam, you can review your admissibility here.

  Please note: this information is only meant as an indication of your admissibility. No rights can be derived from this table. In order to obtain a personalized, official admission decision, students should apply for the master via Studielink (without obligation) to find out if additional courses need to be completed. Every application will be reviewed individually by the Admission Board. The final admission decision may differ from the indication in this table. If your programme is not listed, feel free to apply.

• I have a Dutch higher vocational education (HBO) bachelor’s degree

  You will gain direct admission after completing the premaster’s programme for this master. This is a 30 EC fulltime programme with courses on at least three days a week and runs from February till July.

  Here you can find detailed information about the premaster Business Administration

• Application procedure with a Dutch degree

  Step 1:
  Apply for the programme MSc Business Administration via Studielink before 1 June. 
  
  Step 2:
  After application in Studielink, you will receive a VUnet-ID and password. Please complete your application in your VU dashboard by answering additional questions, selecting the specialization of your choice and uploading the Master Application File. Download the correct file here. In this file you can see which documents are required to apply for this programme.

  Please note: we can only process your application when you uploaded a complete Master Application File. 
  
  Step 3:
  The admission committee will assess if you meet the admission criteria and will inform you about the decision via email. 
  
  For the full description of the registration procedure see the VU website.

• I have an international degree

  Students must meet the following admission requirements: 

  1.  Academic requirements

  Your previous education needs to be deemed equivalent to at least a Dutch academic Bachelor’s degree (wetenschappelijk onderwijs, WO) obtained at a research university (nominal duration 3 years). Please find more information about your admissibility with a non-Dutch degree here.

  2. Programme specific requirements 

  The Master programme Business Administration is open to motivated students with a university bachelor's degree that provides relevant knowledge in Business Administration. Also, we take into account your motivation, prior relevant work experiences, and any relevant volunteering experiences and/or citizenship behaviors.

  You need to have successfully completed courses and studied literature related to the core of the programme/specialization with at least:

  • 12 ECTS in Research Methods
  • 12 ECTS in Business Administration

  See the details per specialization below.

  Research Methods (12 ECTS)
  You need to have successfully completed courses and studied literature related to the research methods of this programme, covering:

  • An intermediate-level understanding of the foundations of qualitative (e.g., interviewing, observations) and quantitative (e.g., reliability, validity, correlations, factor analyses).
  • Example text book: Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill (2019). Research Methods for Business Students, 8th Edition. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited/Prentice Hall.

  Business Administration (12 ECTS)
  You need to have studied literature and successfully completed 12 ECTS in Business Administration, with some ECTS related to the subject of the specialization:

  International Management

  • Course in International Management
  • Example text book: C. Hill (2023). International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace. 14th edition, McGraw-Hill Education.

  Leadership and Change Management

  • Courses in Organizational behavior/ Organization Theory/ Strategic Management.
  • Example text books:
    • Sinding et al. (2016). Organisational Behaviour. 6th edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill  
    • Brehm, S. S. Kassin, S. M., & Fein, S. (2004). Social Psychology. 6th edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin
    • Jaffee, D. (2008). Organization Theory: Tension and Change. London: McGraw-Hill
    • Hitt, M. A., Ireland, D. R., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2014). Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization – Concepts and Cases, 11th Edition. Stamford: South-Western College Pub

  Management Consulting

  • Courses in Strategy/ Organizational Theory and Change
  • Example text books: 
    • De Wit, B. (2021). Strategy: An international Perspective. 7th Edition. Cengage Learning, UK
    • Jones, G.R. (2012) Organizational Theory, Design and Change. 7th edition, Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall
    • O’Mahoney and Mangham (2013) Management Consultancy 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press

  Strategic Human Resource Management

  • Courses in Human Resource Management and Organization Behavior
  • Example text books: 
    • Sinding et al. (2016). Organisational Behaviour. 6th edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill 
    • Kinicky (2020). Organizational Behavior. A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach. 3rd edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill
    • Management Noe et al. (2022). Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. 9th edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill
    • Boselie and van der Heijden (2024). Strategic Human Resource Management: A Balanced Approach. 3rd edition. McGraw-Hill.

  Strategy and Organization

  • Courses in International Strategy/ Strategic Management
  • Example text books: 
    • De Wit, B. (2021). Strategy: An international Perspective. 7th Edition. Cengage Learning, UK.
    • Hitt, M. A., Ireland, D. R., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2019). Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization – Concepts and Cases, 13th Edition. Cengage Learning, UK.

  How to demonstrate that you meet the above requirements

  You are required to indicate in the course description section of the Application Form how you meet the programme specific admission requirements.

  Whether you meet the admission requirements, is determined by the Admission Board based on your complete application.

  3. English-language proficiency requirements  

  You will have to demonstrate sufficient English language proficiency. You can find an overview of relevant information to demonstrate your English language proficiency on the language requirement page. 

• Application procedure with an international degree

  Application documents

  To apply you are required to provide the following documents:

  • Scan of your passport or national ID card (ID for EEA students only) valid at the start date of the programme
  • Master Application File please download the correct file from this page. In this file you can see which documents are required to apply for your programme.
  • Proof of English language proficiency (if already obtained): upload your proof of English language proficiency or English language test results. Please find the English language requirements here.

  After having prepared the required documents, please follow the online application procedure. 

  Application fee & deadlines

  All students seeking admission to an international Master’s programme with an international degree are required to pay a non-refundable €100 application fee. Only after you have paid this fee will we be able to start the evaluation of your application file. If you are applying for more than one programme, you will only need to pay the application fee once. Your application fee payment is valid for two years.
  
  Information on how to apply with an international university degree and deadlines can be found here. 

  Grants and scholarships

  As an international student planning to study at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, you can apply for a variety of grants and bursaries. Detailed information about scholarships and deadlines can be found on www.vu.nl/scholarships or www.grantfinder.nl.

  International Student and Alumni Ambassadors 

  Our International Student and Alumni Ambassadors are happy to tell you all about their experiences with studying at VU Amsterdam and living in Amsterdam.

  • Our Student Ambassadors are current students at VU Amsterdam that represent a wide variety of programmes and countries.
  • Our International Alumni Ambassadors are VU Amsterdam graduates who are currently either working in the Netherlands or abroad, or doing a PhD or (second) Master's.

  You will find the full overview of our Ambassadors here: vu.nl/ambassadors. There you can chat with them directly.

• Pre-master's programme for international students

  Applying for the pre-master's programme directly is not possible. All international students are required to apply for the Master's programme of their choice first. If you do not meet the admission requirements directly, the Admission Board might refer you to the pre-master's programme. After completing the pre-master's programme you are directly eligible for the Master's programme.
  
  The pre-master's programme is a deficiency programme that provides the necessary knowledge and skills to prepare you for this Master's programme. It is a programme of 30 ECTS that is offered in the second semester, from February through July. Content details of the offered pre-master's can be found here.
  
  Admission requirements for the pre-master's programme

  • You have a Bachelor's degree from a non-Dutch university or from a non-Dutch university of applied science (which is equal to at least a Dutch HBO degree).
  • The Admission Board might request to hand in GMAT. This will be stated in the invitation to apply for the pre-master's programme you will receive from the Admission Board after you applied for the Master's programme. Do you want to know more about the GMAT? See GMAT ® - More about - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (vu.nl)
     

  Deadlines and application
  The programme starts 1 February. Because of visa application deadlines, non-EU citizens must have submitted their application before 1 November. EU citizens or students with a valid residence permit for the Netherlands have until January 31^st to complete their application. However, to make sure everything is arranged before the enrolment deadline it is advised to submit your application well before this date.

  • 1 November 2023: Non-EU/ non-EAA students who need visa/residence permit. November 1 is the deadline to apply. Once you are conditionally admitted you have till December 1 to hand in a valid English Language test and GMAT (if applicable)
  • 31 January 2024: EU/EAA students

  Note: When applying, you can find the pre-master's programme in Studielink after selecting Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and by entering ‘pre-master's’ in the search bar.

• FAQ for students with a Dutch degree

  Can I be admitted into an SBE Master with my Dutch university degree?

  The admission board can make a decision regarding your admissibility based on several documents. Apply for the Master via Studielink and complete your application on the VU-Dashboard by uploading the required documents. Some Master programmes require additional documents such as an English CV and motivation letter, as well as your transcript of records. You will receive an admission decision within a couple of weeks after completing your application. Registration for the Master via Studielink is without obligation and does not commit you to anything yet.

  I have a higher vocational (HBO) degree. Do I need to complete the pre-master's before I can start with an SBE Master?

  Yes, we require all students with an HBO higher vocational Bachelor degree to complete the corresponding pre-master's before they can start with the Master. More information on the pre-master's can be found here.

  I have a higher vocational (HBO) degree and wish to start with an SBE Master that does not have a specific pre-master's (MSc Econometrics & Operations Research, MSc Economics, MSc Spatial, Transport and Environmental Economics). How do I apply?

  Please send your transcript of records directly to admissions.sbe@vu.nl/ toelating.sbe@vu.nl. Make sure the name of your education and institution are visible.

  I do not want to start with a master in the next academic year, but the year after. How do I know if I am eligible?

  You can still apply for the Master that starts in the next academic year via Studielink. Registration for the Master is without obligation and does not commit you to anything yet. If you need to complete additional courses in order to be admissible, you can do so during the next academic year. Because the admission decisions are valid for one year, make sure to check in advance if the admission requirements have not changed.

  I am already completing a Master at a Dutch university. Can I be directly admitted into one of the SBE Masters?

  You cannot be automatically admitted into one of the SBE Masters. First, your application needs to be reviewed by the admission board of the Master in the same way as all Bachelor students. Please apply for the Master via Studielink and upload all required documents. You can use an online PDF merger to upload both your Bachelor grades and (preliminary) Master grades.