Greetings and best wishes for the studies from Finland

Tudi na Finskem smo spoznali, da je za čim boljši položaj pri zaposlovanju študentov treba ponuditi študijski program poslovnih ved s tujimi jeziki.

Today the society and working life are at constant change and this affects also the requirements of new staff. The professional knowledge is no longer enough as initiative, responsible and communicative experts with good command of languages are appreciated. These factors challenge the educational institutions as well as teachers and students.

During the past 15 years there has been a strong trend in Finland to start degree programs in English to promote international trade and business. Savonia University of Applied Sciences started bachelor programs in International Business in English in 1994 and the programs are still needed and have good demand. There is a great interest for study places in international programs from all over the world. The programs with a strong combination of international business studies, internationalization and foreign languages meet the needs of developing labor markets and also the needs of students who are interested in working for international business.

The structures of the international business programs are interdisciplinary, contemporary, in accordance with the Bologna principles, comparable with university programs and with the programs in many European countries. The programs enable good employment for its graduates.

The program International Business represents a suitable completion of the existing college and university programs in Europe. The program offers to labor markets professionals with competences and skills in the field of international business, economics, management, law, accounting and finances, marketing, information technology and especially good knowledge of foreign languages and cultures. The global economy needs these competences and skills to develop

The cooperation with enterprises, other organizations, partner universities and visiting professors are a good facility for the international business programme and it also facilitates students in finding summer jobs, jobs for work placement and topics for final projects.  The teaching methods of international business programmes are various. Beside with lectures and exercises there are a lot of possibilities to learning by doing and other hands-on methods as part of studies. International cooperation and projects with partners promote the international aspect of studies.

I wish you all the success in studies during this and all the coming academic years. I hope that you will meet the challenges of your studies and the future working life and have a good future.

Tuula Linnas

International Coordinator

Savonia University of Applied Sciences

Finland