Stockholm School of Economics in Riga

• 1. Introduction

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  The Stockholm School of Economics in Riga occupies a building erected in 1905-06, decades before the school existed. Strelnieku iela 4a sits inside Riga's Jugendstil, or Art Nouveau, district, a neighborhood now recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Mikhail Eisenstein, who lived from 1867 to 1920, designed the building. In 1993 the Soros Higher Education Support Program contributed US$2 million toward its renovation. In 1994 Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf opened the restored building himself.

  What kind of business school ends up inside a century-old Art Nouveau landmark rather than a modern campus? Who leads the school, how selective is admission, and what fills a student's life once they arrive?

• 2. Founding and Governance

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  In 1994 the Stockholm School of Economics founded a subsidiary campus in Riga, backed by the Swedish government and Latvia's Ministry of Education. Ownership shifted in 2010 to a foundation jointly established by the Stockholm School of Economics, the University of Latvia, and the SSE Riga Alumni Association. Given its relatively small size, admission to SSE Riga is reportedly highly selective. Anders Paalzow has served as rector since July 1999, having earned a Ph.D. in Economics from the school's parent institution in Stockholm. Group work, summer internships, and case studies anchor the teaching approach across the school's degree tracks. That selectivity shapes who applies and how many make it through the admissions process each year.

• 3. Academic Programmes

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  SSE Riga confers degrees through two separate paths, a three-year BSc in Economics and Business and a two-year Executive MBA. Both charge a tuition fee, and both are taught entirely in English. More than 2,550 students have graduated from the Bachelor's programme, and over 400 have completed the Executive MBA. The Bachelor's curriculum draws on 30 core courses and 40 elective courses, giving students room to shape their own path through the degree. Each year the school admits 130 students to the Bachelor's programme, about 65 percent of them from Latvia. The remaining 35 percent arrive from Lithuania, Estonia, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, and China. The Executive MBA, started in 2002, caps its annual intake at no more than 30 students drawn from a mix of academic and professional backgrounds. A study tour to Asia counts among the programme's highlights. Getting into either programme starts long before the first lecture, with an application process built around grade thresholds and a timed interview.

• 4. Admission Process

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  Every applicant to the Bachelor's programme needs a minimum grade of 7 on a 10-point scale in both Mathematics and English. An equivalent score on a comparable scale is accepted instead. Candidates who completed secondary education from 2013 onward in Estonia, Latvia, or Lithuania must submit their state examination results in those subjects. Alongside the grades, applicants submit a motivation letter as part of the application form. Those who clear the initial eligibility review sit an online admissions test covering basic math, logical aptitude, and English. The strongest performers on that test are then invited to a 40 minute interview built around a case study discussion. For the Executive MBA, entry runs on a different set of criteria. Applicants need a university degree or its equivalent, a minimum of 5 years of work experience, and professional achievements. Clearing that bar is only the entry point. What a student does with the degree extends well beyond SSE Riga's own classrooms.

• 5. Exchange and Executive Education

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  Sciences Po Paris, Bocconi University, and the Norwegian School of Economics count among the partner schools SSE Riga exchanges students with across Europe. Other partners include WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management, the Technical University of Munich, and Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Further partners include the Warsaw School of Economics, Vilnius University, and Utrecht University. Each semester, incoming exchange students join the Bachelor's programme, and each autumn third-year SSE Riga students leave for a semester abroad. Outside its degree tracks, the school runs Executive Education programmes split between open enrollment and in-house formats. The open programme portfolio alone comprises more than a dozen offerings. These span general management and leadership, finance and accounting, strategy and project management, and marketing and communication. That breadth of partnerships and programming feeds directly into how SSE Riga measures up against business schools elsewhere in Europe.

• 6. International Ranking

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  The Financial Times' 2022 European Business School ranking placed the Stockholm School of Economics 20th among business universities in Europe. That position made it the number one business school in the Baltic and Nordic region. The same publication ranked the school's Master in Finance programme 19th in the world. SSE Riga carries that standing jointly with its parent school in Stockholm, since the two are ranked together rather than separately. Rankings measure teaching and reputation, but SSE Riga also backs its classroom work with dedicated research centres and its own library collection.

• 7. Research and Library

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  SSE Riga cooperates with the Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies, known as BICEPS. BICEPS is an independent institute producing policy-oriented research across economics and other social sciences. In 2009 the school founded its Centre for Media Studies, which trains journalists in investigative reporting, business reporting, and journalistic ethics. A second centre, for Sustainable Business, followed in 2012 to raise awareness of sustainable business practices and corporate social responsibility. The school also takes part in EU and government-funded research and policy projects, and it prepares its own research reports. Its library holds more than 25,000 books covering business and economics, and unlike many university libraries, it is open to the public. Outside the reading room, students run institutions entirely of their own making.

• 8. Student Life

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  The Student Association, or SA, was founded in 1994, the same year as SSE Riga itself. It became one of the most efficient student associations in Latvia almost from the start. It belongs to the Student Union of Latvia. Roughly 80 percent of students take part in its activities during their time at the school. That is one of the highest participation rates in the country. The SA organizes its work through committees covering business, public relations, education, information, IT, events, and sports.

  The SSE Riga Debate Society, established in 1994 as well, holds the title of the oldest debate society in the Baltics. Since 1998 it has run an annual championship called SSE Riga IV. The tournament is described as the oldest, largest, and most prestigious debate event in Central Europe. Its most recent edition drew around 130 participants from 11 countries.

  A separate student venture, the Investment Game, began in 1997 when the school's student investment fund launched it as an international stock market simulator. The game now draws more than 6,000 participants a year. By its own description, it is the biggest event of its kind in the Baltic region. Its first round, which lasts four weeks, lets players trade on 15 European markets. These include NASDAQ OMX exchanges in Helsinki, Stockholm, Riga, Tallinn, and Vilnius, along with the Russian Trading System. A second four-week round, branded Investment Game '12, opens access to 15 international markets covering equities, commodities, and other instruments through a dedicated trading platform. Chas has called the Investment Game a very exciting activity and one of the most challenging at the school. Every year the competition runs for two months, from March to the beginning of May, when the most successful participants collect their prizes.