Your studies – your commitment

Personal responsibility and extraordinary dedication is what makes our students stand out.

We encourage our students to go forth with an entrepreneurial spirit while pursuing their own objectives. An entrepreneur is someone who sets goals and makes autonomous decisions about how to use his or her resources – and assumes the risks that go with them.

Finding your focus
Students at HSG are encouraged to design and plan their own course of study. This means setting priorities and getting involved, for example, by joining one of the 100 student associations, by participating in the coaching and mentoring programme or by completing an exchange term at a partner university.

Identifying your strengths
Our university provides the ideal environment for students to develop a sense of self-reliance. We encourage and support our students in their efforts to set priorities and identify their individual strengths.

Broadening horizons
For many of our graduates, an exchange term at another university is one of the defining experiences of their time as students. Contact with other people and cultures, course structures, subjects and working methods enriches your whole experience as a student. Location and language do not play the decisive role here; what matters most is that spending time abroad offers you the chance to immerse yourself in a foreign culture.

Find your focus

At HSG your are encouraged to design and plan their own course of study. This means setting priorities and getting involved, for example, by joining one of the 100 student associations, by participating in a coaching and mentoring programme or by completing an exchange term at a partner university.

Identify your strengths

Our university provides the ideal environment for students to develop a sense of self-reliance. We encourage and support our students in their efforts to set priorities and identify their individual strengths.

Broaden your horizon

Coming into contact with other people and cultures, dealing with unfamiliar course structures, subjects and working methods can enrich your experience as a student. Location and language do not play the decisive role here; what matters most is that spending time abroad offers you the chance to immerse yourself in a foreign culture. This is why for many of our graduates, an exchange term at another university is one of the defining experiences of their time at the University.

Holistic course architecture

Intellectual skills, a holistic approach to complex problems, flexibility, responsibility and intercultural qualifications are of ever increasing importance today. To ensure that students are able to acquire these skills, we have designed our degree programmes in such a unique way as to create the conditions required for our students’ academic and personal development.

An integrative view of economics, business administration, law, social science and the humanities defines the HSG’s educational profile providing students with a holistic education at the highest academic level.

Core Studies

All degree programmes at the University of St.Gallen have two main components known as Core Studies and Contextual Studies. The Core Studies component consists of compulsory courses, core electives and electives, as well as the Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis.
The compulsory courses convey the basic specialist knowledge of the student’s chosen subject. Core electives consist of a wide range of programme-specific courses. Courses offered by other programmes are open to students among the electives. The extensive range of core electives and electives enables students to focus on issues which are of particular interest to them. Thus, they are able to create an individual profile in addition to their chosen major, which will support them in the realisation of their professional and personal goals.

Contextual Studies

It is a particular feature of the design of our degree programme that students not only attend courses in the economic and legal sciences which are taught in Core Studies; they also take subjects that complement their specialist knowledge and provide various perspectives which allow one to reflect more deeply upon that specialist knowledge. These courses are taught in Contextual Studies. Our students learn that economic decisions are always embedded in general societal, cultural and historical conditions and must therefore be viewed from an integrative angle. Students are thus educated to become individuales who are aware of their social responsibility and will be in a position later in life to act in a flexible, responsible and sustainable manner.

Get involved with student initiatives
Student initiatives such as the renowned St.Gallen Symposium (ISC) have been a defining part of the HSG’s image for decades and are one of the main pillars of our university.

Student initiatives

For many students (over 50%), taking on responsibility in student initiatives and standing up for others are a natural part of their time at university. The outstanding community involvement of our students is one of the defining characteristics of our university, over and above the high quality of research and teaching.

Help to shape the HSG

Student projects such as the HSGtalents graduate fair, the internationally renowned St.Gallen Symposium (ISC) and the oikos St.Gallen student organisation for sustainability in economics and management are a defining part of the HSG’s image. These projects are all organised and implemented by students as an extracurricular supplement to their regular studies. With more than 100 clubs, initiatives, project teams and the Student Union, students work towards realising their ideas and play an active role in shaping the university. Many students invest a great deal of hard work and free time in their projects.

Hands-on experience, unforgettable events

Though unpaid, these types of community involvement offer students rewards in the form of hands-on experience, unforgettable events and many friendships. The University supports this involvement, not least through Campus Credits, which in some cases are credited towards the degree requirements.

Pursue your development in a focused manner

Besides purely technical knowledge, we offer you the best conditions for your personal development. We support students at all levels of their studies by means of voluntary supervision programmes (coaching and mentoring programmes).

Coaching and mentoring programmes

Coaching programme
We offer intensive, personal support to students in the Assessment Year through our voluntary coaching programme. In particular, the coaching programme fosters social competence and personal responsibility, leadership skills and the capacity for self-reflection.

Mentoring programme
An experienced person (mentor) helps a younger person (mentee) develop and expand his or her work competencies. Mentoring represents the relationship between two people who maintain regular contact and exchange ideas over an extended period of time, not only in the business context but on a personal level as well.