The EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development), an international non-profit organisation, has simultaneously accredited two English-language master’s programmes at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, namely, Management & Leadership and Finance. The two training programmes now hold one of the most recognised international qualifications in management and business higher education.

The accreditation guarantees that students will receive a quality education that meets the expectations of the global business world, so they can build their careers with confidence.

Completion of such courses increases students’ chances of finding a job in the international labour market,

as employers know thatEFMD accredited graduates have competitive skills.

The EFMD is one of the leading international quality assurance organisations for management and business education, with 951 member institutions worldwide, including 725 business schools. Its aim is to promote the development of management education and to provide a forum for professional collaboration, research and best practice sharing. Its accreditation guarantees the highest standards of quality and innovation, significantly enhancing the international recognition and competitiveness of its accredited institutions.

Small club

Currently, the EFMD organisation includes 112 EFMD-accredited institutions worldwide, and there are around 80 EFMD-accredited Master’s and MBA training programmes, of which more than 60 are located in Europe. The BME GTK is the first in Hungary to have two English-language Master’s programmes accredited. There are only two Management and Leadership and eight Finance Master’s training programmes with EFMD accreditation worldwide.

“For the BME GTK, this accreditation is of strategic importance because an independent body certifies that the Faculty’s educational processes and curricula meet the standards of top internationally business training programmes. This recognition enhances the prestige and attractiveness of our programmes in the global and Hungarian education markets, thereby increasing the competitiveness of both the Faculty and the University,” said Mr Tamás Koltai, Dean of GTK, commenting on the result.

Tamás Koltai

He added that the accreditation is a key element of the internationalisation objectives of the GTK, and is a serious professional feedback on the quality of the Faculty’s development processes in recent years. The accreditation not only certifies the high quality of the relevant Master’s programmes, but also indirectly attests to the quality of the entire faculty’s teaching portfolio of 6 Bachelor’s programmes and 11 Master’s programmes through a comprehensive assessment of faculty processes and systems.

Ms. Mária Szalmáné Csete, Deputy Dean for International Affairs of the Faculty, stressed that the accreditation process is not just a one-off audit, but a continuous cycle of development. The process involved a confirmation that the two training programmes were suitable for accreditation, then a second phase involving the preparation of a self-assessment report and the development of a robust database, and finally, last November, a four-person international accreditation Peer Review Team visited and reviewed the educational processes on site.

Mária Szalmáné Csete

“The second phase lasted for over a year, with more than 100 faculty members involved in the preparation of materials and interviews conducted by the team. […] The assessment focused on the quality of education, research activities, internationalisation, business partnerships and governance,” she said, adding that the Peer Review Team unanimously supported the accreditation of both training programmes.

Tamás Koltai noted that

the Peer Review Team confirmed that the GTK is a student-friendly faculty,

based on interviews with alumni, business partners and lecturers, while highlighting the high professional quality of the master theses. ” From the BME’s point of view, it is of particular value that the main strength of the Master’s programme in Management and Leadership was found to be the focus on production and operations management, which distinguishes the programme from its competitors and is a key factor of competitiveness,” he said.

Mária Szalmáné Csete said that the long-term goals of the GTK include further strengthening existing partnerships, developing new joint projects and involving more business professionals in even more phases of the educational process. The GTK remains committed to internationalisation, with a number of objectives set out in the 2024 GTK Internationalisation Strategy.

Rector’s Office, Communications Directorate