The legal predecessor of BBU, the Pest Academy of Commerce, was founded in 1857 in response to the professional challenges of the age. Since then, it has undergone many transformations.
The Budapest Business School, which was awarded the Higher Education Quality Award in 2010, was established on January 1, 2000, by merging three previously successful colleges: the College of International Management and Business, located in a former Soviet barracks in Mátyásföld, and the College of Finance and Accountancy, always in Zugló, and from the College of Commerce, Hospitality and Tourism. In the latter faculty, education still takes place at the original location, downtown on Alkotmány Street, in the building of the Pest Academy of Commerce, which was established in 1857, after Paris, as the second commercial college in Europe in Budapest.
Since January 1, 2016, we have been operating under the name of the Budapest Business School - University of Applied Sciences. In August, 2023, we have changed our name to Budapest Business University. The BBU headquarters is also located in a classic building on Markó Street in the 5th district, which was originally built as a grammar school and has always served an educational purpose.
We are proud of our traditions, our more than 160-year professional past, and we also commemorated the date of our establishment in our coat of arms.
Three faculties of our university currently operate in Budapest: the Faculty of Commerce, Hospitality and Tourism (FCHT), the Faculty of International Management and Business (FIMB), and the Faculty of Finance and Accountancy (FFA).
By winning the title of University of Applied Sciences, BBS was given a non-returnable opportunity that all participants in our institution were able to take advantage of. The period since then has been of paramount importance in the life of our university, as in addition to cultivating our traditions, we have achieved significant results through our modern, innovative spirit, which has defined our strategic direction, decisions and daily operations operator.
In 2016
- in order to strengthen our research role, we started to develop the scientific structure and our Institution Development Plan, which is a strategic document of our operation.
In 2017
- we established the Budapest Lab Entrepreneurship Centre, the first centre of excellence of BBS, followed by 3 more centres of excellence: The Centre of Excellence in the Future of Higher Education Centre, the Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Hospitality, the Centre of Excellence in Cyber Economy.
- We have begun implementing a comprehensive curriculum reform to raise our practice orientation and international compatibility to a higher level.
- We have joined the international network of PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education), as a member of which our institution is committed to responsible business education. At the same time, we institutionalised our sustainability efforts, and the Sustainability Council and The Sustainability Network consisting of volunteers of the internal community was established.
- We were the first in Hungary to receive international accreditation from the professional organization Network of International Business Schools, one of the world's leading communities of economic higher education institutions.
In 2018
- our renewed Code of Ethics has entered into force, which has been prepared in a unique way in Hungarian higher education with the involvement of all internal stakeholders.
- We have implemented a conscious transformation of the academic organization, thus creating a more transparent and efficient organizational structure.
- Our university is on the podium in the national enrolment ranking, ranking 3rd with 6,396 students.
- In December, we successfully accredited the BBS Doctoral School of Entrepreneurship and Business, which fills a gap in that it pays special attention to research and education on business and management issues in small and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, we have started the AACSB accreditation process, which is the best-known international accreditation system for business schools.
In 2019
- we maintained our market leadership in business programmes and recruited 6 per cent more students than the previous year.
In 2020
- our Faculty of Finance and Accountancy was on top in the Hungarian University popularity list, and our other two faculties, the Faculty of Commerce, Hospitality and Tourism, and the Faculty of International Management and Business, were also among the top 10 faculties in Hungary.
In 2021
- based on the number of applicants, our University became the third most popular university in Hungary.
- the operator of our University has changed. From 1 August, the Foundation for the Budapest Business University became the operator of the University
In 2022
- after a record number of admitted students in 2021, our University achieved the second best result of the last decade with 6,255 admitted first-year students.
- the ACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accreditation of our University has reached an important milestone. The Commission has qualified BBU to meet the standards set by the AACSB within the required deadline.
In 2023
- the Development Strategy until 2027 of our University was created.
- from Hungary, the BBU was the only one to be included in the latest program of the UN-sponsored sustainability initiative, the PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education), and also won the PRME Champion title.
- the 6,474 newly enrolled students of our University were able to enroll online from the 2023 academic year. This is the highest recruitment rate at the BBU since 2005.
- our ViVa (Vision and Values) organizational culture development project won the Imre Lövey Award for the best organizational development project of the year.
In 2024
- a new rector has been appointed at the BBU. From 1 July, Dr. György Andor, Professor of Economics, is the new rector of our University.
- our University renewed its membership in the Network of International Business Schools (NIBS) for another 5 years. The new accreditation is valid until November 2028, following the successful re-accreditation in November 2023, received from the association of more than 70 business schools of the world's leading universities, which is unique in Hungarian higher education, can open a new chapter in the internationalization of the BBU.
- we won the PRME Champion title again. Our University joined the PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education) network, a sustainability initiative supported by the United Nations, 7 years ago. Representing Hungary as the only participant in the program, the BBU, together with 47 business universities around the world, will work on the further development of key areas of responsible business education - curricula, research, educational frameworks, sustainability-based partnerships and knowledge exchange.
- we organized the first BBU Alumni Festival, where the largest business community in Hungary - our current and former students, as well as our business partners and employees - met for the first time.
5,948 first-year students can start their studies at the BBU. Our University remains a market leader in BA courses in economics and management, trade and marketing, international management, finance and accounting, tourism and hospitality, and HR, with a total of 3,850 students enrolled.
Our sustainability efforts, internationalization processes, business-friendly approach and developments to create an experiential learning environment plays a major role in the lives of all our university citizens in order to participate effectively in the process of knowledge transfer and acquisition.