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Business Administration Schools and Programs in Spain

121 schools in Spain teach Business Administration.

Executive Bachelor of Business Administration

The Executive Bachelor of Business Administration is designed for professionals in management positions with a minimum of five years of work experience. The course is designed to strengthen the experience of these professionals with theory and concepts and prepare them for graduate studies. Some courses include: Ethics in Business, Customer Relationship Management and Managerial Economics. Graduates can do continued work as Brand managers, Mortgage advisors, Project managers and Performance analysts.
Level: Undergraduate Bachelors  
Language of instruction: English  
Location: Barcelona

Business Management Degree (International)

For this special international degree program students take the first two years of studies at their home institutions, and the next year and a half at a school abroad, to return home for the last semester. The Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences, located in the Somosaguas Campus, offers students: Internships Office, International Relations Office, Library, mentoring program for first-year students, Cycles of Conferences, Training Activities, Conferences Professional Orientation, etc. Some of the courses included are: Economic History, Business Law, Principles of Business Management, Introduction to Economics, Business Mathematics, Business Statistics, Financial Accounting, Principles of Business Financial Management and Microeconomics.
Level: Undergraduate Bachelors  
Language of instruction: Spanish  
Location: Madrid

Business Administration and Management

The Business Administration and Management program at Universidad Europea de Madrid is a study program that introduces and prepares students for careers in financial business operations administration. Students in this program learn the necessary financial, communication and management skills by studying subjects like financial management, accounting, and tax, and customer service. This program is specifically for students with an interest in becoming financial administrators. Career projections include bankers administrators, auditing assistant, payment collectors and administrative managers.
Level: Professional Development  
Language of instruction: Spanish  
Location: Villaviciosa de Odón

Business Administration

Saint Louis University-Madrid’s Department of Business and Economics is AACSB International accredited (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) and offers a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. Degree Programs include Accounting, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, IT Management, International Business, Leadership and Human Resources Management, Marketing and Sports Business. All undergraduate business majors have to fulfill 45 hours in business regardless of what their chosen concentration is. Career opportunities include careers with international banks, multinational organisations or with other global corporations. Many of which are in financial centres around the world, including Dubai, New York and London. Students are encouraged to study a semester or year abroad. Popular study abroad destinations include Japan, Korea and Brazil.
Level: Undergraduate Bachelors  
Language of instruction: English  
Location: Madrid

Dual Degree in Business Administration and International Relations

The Dual Degree in Business Administration and International Relations covers, in great detail, both international affairs and business. Students studying this dual degree will explore political, economic and social systems to fully comprehend how these areas work in the world of business. The program mingles the expert knowledge of two respected, internationally focused Schools; the IE School of International Relations and the IE Business School. Complete a Dual Degree at IE University and students will receive two undergraduate diplomas when they graduate. Students can complete the dual program in Segovia and Madrid. If students start in Segovia, they do the first three years in Segovia, before moving to Madrid for the last two years. However, if the degree is started in Madrid, students will spend the whole five years in Madrid.
Level: Undergraduate Bachelors  
Language of instruction: English  
Location: Segovia

Master in Business Administration (MBA)

The Master in Business Administration (MBA) is a Social and Legal Sciences degree, available through the IE Higher Education Centre. This Master is aimed at experienced managers who want to blend further education with their professional career and their personal life. Students are varied in terms of culture, geography, academic history and professional background. The program gives a more comprehensive look at the company and further improves the skills required to lead teams in an ever-changing international setting. Students also have the ability to customize the program depending on their professional and personal circumstances. The MBA program is intended for executives and senior managers from any operating area and MDs who would like to update their management skills. IE University’s goal is for managers completing this program to become leaders who have the ability to get the most out the members of their team. This program will take ten months to complete.
Level: Graduate  
Language of instruction: English  
Location: Segovia

Business Administration

Bircham University’s Business Administration program delivers the knowledge needed for entrepreneurs and business administrators to flourish in a business environment. Students will achieve a broad perspective of the world of enterprise, while acquiring particular skills in the area of finance, management, planning and organisation, marketing, economics, in addition to national and international markets. This updated program features the challenges facing modern day business managers like quality and customer management, the effect of technology and its integration and the invention of new standards for business administration in periods of instability. Subjects covered on this course include: Finance & Economics, Marketing & Communication, Business Entrepreneurship Plan, Business Marketing, Cost & Managerial Accounting, Advertising & Public Relations, Product & Price Management, Sales Force Management, Human Resources, Customer Relations Management, Promotional Strategies, Business Finance, Financial Management, Human Resources Management, Financial Strategic Planning, Management Information Systems, Strategic Marketing Management, Business Law, Business Management and Entrepreneurship Management. Subjects account for 3 academic credits each. The Business Administration module is available at Specialist, Expert, Bachelor's, Master's & Ph.D. (Doctoral) Degree levels.
Level: Undergraduate Bachelors  
Language of instruction: English  
Location: Villanueva de la Cañada

Business Administration Studies in Spain

Business administration is the study of how companies and other organisations are run: management and strategy, accounting and finance, marketing, human resources and operations. In Spain the subject is taught mainly as the bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Management (grado en Administración y Dirección de Empresas, usually shortened to ADE). The Universidad de Murcia describes ADE as a degree deeply rooted across Spanish universities, and it is offered by public and private universities in every region, often with an English-taught option.

How the degree is organised

Under Royal Decree 822/2021, Spanish bachelor's degrees have 240 ECTS credits and official master's degrees 60, 90 or 120 credits. Official degrees are valid throughout Spain. ADE follows the four-year pattern: at the Universidad de Murcia, for example, the degree has 240 credits and 360 places for new students, 70 of them in a bilingual group. The Universidad Carlos III de Madrid calls its degree Grado en Administración de Empresas; it also lasts four years (240 credits) and is taught on the Getafe and Colmenarejo campuses.

Universities also offer double degrees that combine ADE with law, economics, engineering or other fields, and master's degrees that build on it. Spanish universities and business schools also run programmes that lead to their own qualifications (títulos propios), such as many MBA and executive programmes: these are not official degrees, so check whether a programme appears in RUCT before you enrol.

In vocational training (FP), the closest qualification is the Técnico Superior en Administración y Finanzas, a 2,000-hour higher-level course in the administration and management family.

Studying ADE in English

ADE is one of the Spanish degrees most often available in English. At Carlos III the degree can be taken entirely in English or in Spanish, with the English option only on the Getafe campus, and all students must certify B2-level English before graduating. Several universities in our directory register the degree in RUCT with an English name, among them the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, the Universidad Europea de Madrid, the Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio, the Universidad de Navarra (Bachelor in Business Administration, BBA) and the Universitat Ramon Llull. An English name in the register does not always mean every course is in English, so check the language of each group.

Where to study business administration in Spain

A search for ADE in the Ministry's Register of Universities, Centres and Degrees (RUCT) returns 100 bachelor's records, including variants, double registrations and degrees being phased out. Madrid and Barcelona have the most schools in our directory. Examples of universities in the directory with the degree in RUCT:

  • Madrid region: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Universidad de Alcalá, CUNEF Universidad, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio and Universidad Villanueva
  • Catalonia: Universitat Ramon Llull and, online, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
  • Valencian Community and Murcia: Universitat Politècnica de València, Universidad Católica de Valencia, Universidad de Alicante, Universidad de Murcia and Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena
  • Andalusia: Universidad de Cádiz and Universidad de Almería
  • North: Universidad de Oviedo, Universidad de A Coruña, Universidad de Vigo, Universidad de Cantabria, Universidad de Navarra, Universidad de la Rioja and Universidad de Zaragoza
  • Castile and León: Universidad de Burgos and Universidad Católica de Ávila
  • Distance learning: the UNED

The directory also lists business schools, many of them in Madrid and Barcelona. Before enrolling in a business school programme, check whether it leads to an official Spanish degree, a degree from another country or the school's own qualification.

Admission

Students who finished secondary school outside Spain usually apply first to UNEDasiss, the UNED service that assesses international students' records and runs the tests needed to enter Spanish bachelor's degrees. Documents must be legalised and translated. Each university then applies its own admission criteria according to the previous studies and the country of origin; private universities usually add their own admission process.

Recognition and careers

Business management is not one of the regulated professions that can be homologated in Spain. A foreign business degree can instead receive a declaración de equivalencia, which certifies its academic level (bachelor's or master's), and students continuing a degree in Spain can ask for convalidación of subjects already passed.

Carlos III lists a wide range of career fields for its graduates, from marketing and export management to financial and risk analysis, auditing, strategy consulting and public-sector posts such as tax inspector. With the FP qualification, graduates work, according to TodoFP, as financial, accounting or human resources administrators or as debt collection technicians.

Frequently asked questions

What is ADE?

ADE stands for Administración y Dirección de Empresas, the Spanish bachelor's degree in business administration and management. It has 240 ECTS credits and usually takes four years.

Can I study business administration in Spain in English?

Yes, at several universities. Carlos III offers the full degree in English on its Getafe campus, and the Universidad de Murcia has a bilingual group of 70 places.

Is an MBA an official master's degree in Spain?

Not always. Many MBA programmes are the school's own qualification (título propio); official master's degrees are listed in RUCT.

Do I need to homologate a foreign business degree?

No. Business administration is not a regulated profession; you can apply for a declaración de equivalencia, which certifies the academic level of the degree.