The history of Budapest Business University (BBU) began in 1857 with the founding of the Pest Academy of Commerce. In its current form, BBU is the largest university of applied sciences in Hungary. The title may be used by institutions in Hungary that offer their students excellent, practical, applicable programmes in line with labour market expectations, conduct research in the field of applied sciences and have established extensive international cooperation with other educational institutions.
The faculty of the FFA offers 4 undergraduate, 4 masters, 5 higher-level vocational training, and several postgraduate and adult courses, both full-time and correspondence, in Hungarian and English.
Past
The history of the FFA began with the Pest Academy of Commerce founded in 1857, then with that of the Eastern Commercial Academy. Education was suspended between 1959 and 1962 and then resumed under the name of Higher-Level Vocational University of Finance and Accountancy. From the 1970/1971 academic year it was renamed the College of Finance and Accountancy (CFA). Its campus was then moved to its present location in the 14th district, Buzogány street, Zugló. In the academic year 1971/1972 the College opened a regional institute in Zalaegerszeg and in the following year in Salgótarján.
The university, known as CFA, was established in 2000 from three previously separate colleges, which then became faculties: the Faculty of Finance and Accountancy, the Faculty of International Management and Business, and the Faculty of Commerce, Hospitality and Tourism. In 2011, the Zalaegerszeg Institute was transformed into the Zalaegerszeg Faculty of Business Administration (ZFBA), which was the university's fourth faculty until 2020.
Since 1 January 2016, the institution has been operating under the name of Budapest Business University (BBU).
September 2017 saw the completion of the Smart Campus on Berzsenyi Dániel Street.
The Faculty's campus on Buzogány Street has also undergone significant development in recent years. The renovation of Lecture Hall III was completed in 2018 in cooperation with ProcessSolution. In 2019, the Fintelligence Financial Education Centre, financed by UniCredit, was completed and the greening of the Faculty began, the first sign of which was the completion of the green wall on the first floor.
The refurbishment of the aula and a number of associated departmental offices was completed in autumn 2020.
In August 2021 there was a change in the maintenance model of the university. The Budapest Business University Foundation became the new custodian of our university.
In the autumn of 2023, UniZone, the multifunctional student centre of BBU, was inaugurated.
Present
Our faculty is the most popular in the country. Our aim is to train professionals who are responsible, able to think for themselves, and willing to think about the problems of the world around them. We want them to be able to think about the problems of the world around them in five, ten or even twenty years' time and to develop solutions. We aim to teach not only the basics, but also the updated, marketable knowledge that our students will need to use in the future, including in the marketplace. Skills such as problem solving, teamwork and logical thinking are particularly important to us. To help new students settle in, in addition to teaching, we place great emphasis on our mentoring system and our diverse community-building and talent management programmes.
We offer undergraduate programmes in four areas: in addition to finance and accounting, which has built the reputation of the Faculty, we also offer courses in business administration and management, human resources and business information technology. In addition to our five masters programmes (Finance, Accounting, Business Management, Economist in Management and Leadership, and Financial Management), our numerous specialised trainings and postgraduate programmes, we have been offering doctoral programmes for both Hungarian and foreign students since 2019. Our short-cycle non-degree higher education programmes are offered in the fields of finance and accounting (economics, finance and public finance), business administration and management, and business information technology, which are harmonised with our undergraduate programmes.
Our faculty has links with several vocational training centres and technical colleges. The partner institutions provide training for financial and accounting technicians on the basis of a jointly developed training programme. By doing this, our institution contributes to providing high quality certified technician training.
Our students have the opportunity to develop their skills in other areas in addition to those provided for in the Model Curriculum during their university years. They can take part in exchange programmes abroad (Erasmus, OBIC), dual degree programmes at AVANS University of Applied Sciences (Breda, the Netherlands) and University College Leuven-Limburg (Leuven, Belgium). They can also study abroad through Campus Mundi, CEEPUS and Fulbright scholarships, among others.
We also have a number of student organisations. Our students are supported by a mentoring programme, which was launched in 2019. Hungarian and foreign students support incoming international students through the "BEE" programme.
The "FFA+" talent management programme is aimed at the development of talented students in a personalised way. Higher level and more complex knowledge can be acquired by the students participating in the programme.
In the building on Buzogány Street, 24 seminar rooms, 12 computer classrooms, 3 language classrooms, 2 medium-sized (100 to 200 seats) and 3 large (200 to 500 seats) lecture halls with modern equipment, 1 gym and a library with 65,000 volumes are available to students.
The campus also houses the Bagolyvár Hall of Residence with 136 rooms and 374 beds.
The Berzsenyi Dániel Street Smart Campus is home to Master of Business Management, the Team Academy programme and the Budapest LAB Business Development Centre. The aim of the campus was to create a modern, sustainable educational environment that meets the needs of the 21st century, and that's why environmental awareness plays a key role as well as cutting-edge digital solutions.
The university library, sports and social facilities, study boxes, study rooms, conference rooms, restaurant, terrace and buffet are also part of the multi-functional UniZone student centre. The new building complex provides flexible community spaces for educational and cultural activities, as well as recreation and student networking. The building is sustainable and accessible; ergonomic, flexible and adaptable communal spaces are equipped with the latest smart technologies.
Future
The Faculty is continuously developing its educational programmes. In autumn 2024, it will launch a two-semester MSc in Financial Management, taught in English