In studying Economics and Management, the goal is to understand how individuals, businesses and indeed entire economies behave and develop. The knowledge and skills you acquire will enable you to help meet the challenges facing us in business, society and politics. A degree in Economics and Management will equip you to take on responsibilities in these areas – our courses are application-oriented, so even an initial Bachelor degree will put you in a good position on the labour market.

The University of Lucerne is the youngest in Switzerland and also the smallest, with about 3000 students. Close interaction between academic staff and students – not to be taken for granted in subjects such as Economics and Management – defines the personal character of our faculty. The courses we offer in Lucerne are application and problem-oriented. They are also focused. Students learn to find their own answers to current challenges faced by business and society.

Contrary to other universities, teaching in Economics and Management goes on in parallel throughout the course. Students graduate with a "Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Management". A Bachelor degree confers a solid knowledge base on which to build.

Mathematical concepts help to formulate economic contexts with precision, bringing a systematic approach to data analysis. We organise a mandatory refresher course in mathematics early in the degree course to update skills acquired at secondary school. More in-depth mathematical concepts can be addressed if required as the course progresses. We do not study mathematics as a subject in its own right here in Lucerne. Students who are interested in business and economics should not be put off from applying to us because of the mathematical element of the course.

Credits earned for attendance at other universities, which match our own in terms of content and scope may be used towards a degree at the University of Lucerne. Each case will be examined on its merits by the Academic Student Advisors.

Enrolment must be complete before credits can be definitively recognised. Please send a scan of your original results/grades to the Academic Student Advisors (studienberatung-wfremove-this.@remove-this.unilu.ch).

Practical experience is beneficial for professional and personal development. Up to 6 credits may therefore be earned for extracurricular activities in the form of qualified internships in optional compulsory or optional subjects. Internships are generally completed during semester breaks. Students may also apply for special leave (one semester) to complete an internship before continuing their studies the following semester.

Information about the pre-conditions and modalities of obtaining credits for extracurricular activities are published on the Rules page.

Yes, the Faculty of Economics and Management can award up to 6 ECTS points per study level (Bachelor/Master) for basic or further military training. The procedure for obtaining these credits is published in the Guide to Extracurricular Activities. The final decision in respect of credits is made by the academic student advisors (studienberatung-wfremove-this.@remove-this.unilu.ch).

Information on this can be found under Courses.

Yes. Students who are enrolled at another Swiss university may attend courses at the Faculty of Economics and Management (WF) at the University of Lucerne and earn ECTS credits. Information on this can be found under Courses.

The bachelor degree is basically designed as a full-time course, i.e. we do not offer special evening or weekend tuition for part-time students. That does not exclude students from holding part-time jobs. Depending on the time taken up by such activities, students may envisage an extended period of study. There is no need to make a special application if you wish to study on a part-time basis, the semester fees are the same as for full-time students. For the Bachelor's programme we offer a Model curricula part-time over 8 semesters.

• We generally recommend that new students begin their studies in the autumn semester. The reasons for this are the courses, some of which build on each other, and the extensive introductory course at the beginning of the autumn semester.
• We recommend the start in spring semester for students who already have previous knowledge and wish to change university or field of study.
• The Master's programme can also be started  in the spring semester. As there are fewer compulsory courses in the Master's programme, it is easier to start in the spring semester than in the Bachelor's programme.

The new Bachelor degree in Economics is designed as a full-time course, so students are not permitted to register for minor subjects. Lectures in law are part of the compulsory programme. Credits earned for courses organised by the Faculty of Theology (especially Ethics), the Faculty of Culture and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Law may be put towards optional subjects (15 Credits). 

Students who are prevented from attending courses for a long period for good reason may apply for special leave in writing.

Good reasons include e.g. illness, pregnancy, internships and military or community service. Requests must be submitted no later than 15 September for the autumn semester and 15 February for the spring semester. Authorised study leave is granted for one semester at a time and will not usually be accorded more than twice per study level (Bachelor/Master). Students remain enrolled at the University of Lucerne but do not pay any semester fees. They may not attend courses or sit exams. Use of the libraries is permitted, the student email account remains active. 

Requests for special leave should be submitted to the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Management. Please also read the Guidelines for Applying for Special Leave.

Please check our Examinations Page for information about examination sessions. Examination dates for specific courses are published in the Course Catalogue and current examination schedule (on the Examinations Page).

You must register for all courses at the Faculty of Economics and Management. You cannot sit exams without registering. You are also required to register during the examination registration period for seminars with no final examination, separately. Please register via the UniPortal. The procedure is described in the Guide to Registering for Examinations.  You may not register or cancel a registration after the registration deadline.

If you sat your advanced school leaving certificate in a language other than German, you may apply for an extension to the standard time allotted for written examinations. To do so, please complete the online form on the Examinations Page before the registration deadline. If your request is accepted, you will receive a personal authorisation which you must present at each examination. Note: Extensions of examination periods for foreign language students are only possible in the Bachelor's programme.applications are for the current examination session only and must be resubmitted for the following semester!

Students who sat their advanced school leaving certificate in a language other than the language of the examination may take a general linguistic dictionary with them to written examinations. No application is required. Specialist dictionaries and electronic dictionaries are not permitted.

Please read the Information Sheet: "Instructions for Written Examinations".

Examination registrations are binding. If you cannot attend an examination for a good reason you must notify the Examination Administration Office as soon as possible, and in all cases before the examination starts. To avoid penalties, you must provide proof of the reason for your absence (see Guide to Examinations, § 3, Non-attendance at examinations). If you do not notify the Examination Administration Office, you will be awarded a fail grade (1) in the respective examination. You may resit the exam at the next planned session (see following question).

If you fail an examination, you may resit providing you have not attained the maximum number of points for failed attempts. It is possible to repeat the examination on the next planned session, generally in the following year You may not resit an examination which you have already passed.

You may inspect completed exams after marking. Information about the inspection room, date and registration deadline is published in the Course Catalogue. Please register using the online registration form. Registration is binding, you should notify the Dean as early as possible if you have to cancel.

Your exam results are available via the UniPortal. Please consult the Guide to Viewing Course Results. Please contact the Examination Administration Office if you require official confirmation of results.

Please read the «Guide to Examinations» and other examination information on our website. Please consult wf-pruefungenremove-this.@remove-this.unilu.ch if you have organisation-related questions. For technical questions about registration, please contact the Helpdesk in our IT department: helpdeskremove-this.@remove-this.stud.unilu.ch.

Admission to a bachelor’s thesis is dependent on successful completion of the orientation stage plus at least 45 credits in the main study programme study, a pass for the semester dissertation. In addition, the weighted overall average grade must be 5.0 or higher, or the semester dissertation must have been awarded a grade of at least 5.5.

Students who are registered for a Bachelor’s degree in Economics & Management at the University of Lucerne may earn credits towards a Master’s degree in advance, up to a maximum total of 36 credits (24 Cr from the compulsory subjects, 12 Cr from the optional subjects) and subject to successful completion of at least 150 credits as part of the Bachelor’s degree. These credits will not count towards the Bachelor’s degree, unsuccessful attempts will count towards the Master’s degree.

In the Master’s programme you either choose one out of four specialisations (Applied Data Science, Market-Oriented Management, Health Economics and Management, Political Economics) or you do the general Master, which contains content from the entire Master's programme.

This decision should be made before the start of the course of studies and must be stated when registering for the Master's programme. However, should you decide to change the type or specialisation during the course of your studies, this is generally possible. See the next question.

Yes, it is possible, provided that the language admission requirements according to Guide to Admission to the Master Programme in Management and Economics are met.

Change of specialization: The mandatory area is the same for both types and for all four specializations. Already completed courses in one specialization can be credited with up to 12 credits in the elective area. If you have already completed more than 12 credits in the specialization or already completed credits in the elective area, certain credits may be lost when changing the specialization.

Changing the elective option: If you have chosen the elective option and decide to specialise during your studies - or vice versa - this is also possible. Since there are many different cases here, a hypothetical calculation example is omitted. For detailed information on the transfer of credits, please contact the student advisory service.