Term of the month: D as in Double-Degree

The University of St.Gallen provides students with an opportunity to be awarded two full Master’s degrees. Does this mean that they have to study twice as long? And are the degrees two HSG degrees?

The University of St.Gallen has pursued strategic cooperation ventures with leading business universities worldwide ever since 1990. The upshot of this is that students are able to opt for a double degree programme at the HSG and another university and to obtain two full Master's degrees at the end of their studies.

The University of St.Gallen cultivates a so-called double degree partnership with twelve schools:

ESADE, Barcelona, Spain
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Medford/Boston, USA
Fundaçaõ Getulio Vargas (FGV-EAESP), São Paulo, Brazil
HEC School of Management, Paris, France
INCAE Business School, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po), Paris, France
Nanyang Technical University, Singapore
RSM Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden
Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milan, Italy
Yonsei Graduate School of International Studies, Seoul, South Korea

In the first year of their studies at the Master's level, HSG students remain in St.Gallen and complete all the required courses, as well as a number of courses in contextual studies. For the second year, they move to a partner university, where they also study in a Master's programme. The number of credits to be earned depends on individual Master's programmes and on the partner university. Since students earn the credits required for the degree in St.Gallen and at the partner university, the time they have to spend studying does not double. To conclude their studies, students write a Master's thesis as a rule and submit it to the University of St.Gallen and the partner university. If they complete their studies successfully, students will be awarded a Master's degree by both the HSG and the partner university of their choice.

Students of partner universities are also able to obtain a double degree. For this purpose, they come to St.Gallen for the second year of their Master's studies.

All the Master's programmes except the Master's programme in Management, Organization Studies and Cultural Theory offer a double degree option. Since the number of places and partner universities is limited, students must undergo a competitive selection process. Approx. 30 students of the University of St.Gallen complete such a double degree programme every year, and about the same number of students from partner universities come to St.Gallen.