Studies & Degrees in Business Studies
Business Studies Study Programs
Business studies is the general study of how companies and other organisations work: how they are financed and managed, how they sell, how they keep accounts and how they deal with staff, law and markets. It is a broad degree, not training for one job. Students cover each of the main functions of a business and then choose an area to study in depth.
It is also one of the most popular fields in higher education. In the United States, business was the largest field for bachelor's degrees in 2021-22, with 375,400 degrees or 19 per cent of all bachelor's degrees conferred, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Business and engineering were the top two fields for non-resident students.
What students learn
The first year usually introduces the core disciplines. At the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) in Australia, the introductory courses of the Bachelor of Business include accounting principles, business research, economics for business, management and marketing. Later, students choose a specialisation. The Smeal College of Business at Penn State lists bachelor's degrees in accounting, finance, management, marketing, and business analytics and information systems, among others. Deree – The American College of Greece lists majors such as accounting and finance, business analytics, economics, entrepreneurship management, human resource management and international business.
Most programmes add practical work. UniSC, for example, includes a 96-hour internship or an industry-facing project.
Qualifications and levels
- Spain. The main degree is the Grado en Administración y Dirección de Empresas (ADE), a bachelor's degree of 240 ECTS credits over four years. At the Universidad de Murcia it has 360 first-year places, 70 of them in a bilingual group where more than half the teaching is in English. Official master's degrees have 60, 90 or 120 ECTS credits.
- United States. The usual first degree is a bachelor's with a business major, such as the Bachelor of Science degrees at Penn State. Colleges also award shorter associate's degrees; NCES counts 113,100 associate's degrees in business in 2021-22.
- United Kingdom. A bachelor's degree with honours (BA or BSc) is a level 6 qualification and a master's degree is level 7. Some institutions teach business only at postgraduate level: the Cranfield School of Management offers MBA programmes and full-time and part-time master's courses.
- Australia. The Bachelor of Business at UniSC takes three years and has 24 courses. Only the full-time option is open to international students on a student visa.
- Private business schools. Many teach in English outside English-speaking countries. ESEI International Business School in Barcelona states that its programmes are taught in English, and its application form distinguishes between an ESEI private degree and a título propio issued with a Spanish university (UCAM). Ask any private school which body awards the qualification and what recognition it has.
Accreditation is another point to compare. Penn State's Smeal College states that it is accredited by AACSB, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Deree states that its programmes are accredited by NECHE and validated by the Open University in the United Kingdom.
Where to study it
The SpainExchange directory lists 228 schools for business studies. The United States has 129, followed by Spain and the United Kingdom (22 each), Australia (9), Canada (7), Ireland (5) and France, Greece and India (3 each). English is the teaching language in most of these countries; in Spain, public universities teach mainly in Spanish, with bilingual groups at some, and private business schools often teach in English.
For Spanish public universities, applicants with school studies from another country normally apply with an accreditation from UNEDasiss, the UNED service that assesses foreign school records for the universities that use it, and then request admission from each university within its deadlines.
Careers
A business degree leads to many occupations. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 13,736,300 people with a business degree were employed in the United States in 2023. A quarter of them worked in management occupations, 23 per cent in business and financial operations (accountants, analysts, human resources specialists) and 12 per cent in sales. About 26 per cent held an advanced degree.
The same source projects that employment in business and financial occupations will grow faster than the average for all occupations from 2025 to 2035, with about 886,600 openings a year. These are United States figures; other countries publish their own.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a business degree take?
Four years in Spain (240 ECTS credits) and three years for the Bachelor of Business at UniSC in Australia. Check the length of each programme on the school's page.
Can I study business in English in Spain?
Yes, in part. The Universidad de Murcia has a bilingual group in its ADE degree with more than half the teaching in English, and private schools such as ESEI in Barcelona teach in English.
Is business studies the same as business administration?
The names overlap. "Business studies" is the general label; a degree may be called business administration, business management, commerce or, in Spain, Administración y Dirección de Empresas. Compare the subjects and specialisations, not the title.
What should I check before choosing a private business school?
Which body awards the qualification, whether it is an official degree or the school's own, and which accreditations the school holds. The school should state this on its own site.