Planning the exchange

Erasmus+ programme

In Europe (excluding Switzerland) Hanken has signed bilateral student exchange agreements with universities within the frame of the European Union’s Erasmus-programme. This programme has participants from 33 different European countries and is generally considered to be a very successful project since its’ start in 1987. Apart from the student exchange, the Erasmus programme also comprises placement-, teacher- and staff exchange. Approximately 10 million students have so far gone on exchange through the Erasmus+ programme.

The European Union offers grants for these different types of mobilities to such universities that have gained a "Erasmus Charter for Higher Education" (ECHE). That means that Hanken annually obtains funds from the European Commission for students that go on exchange to another European university that Hanken has a student exchange agreement with. The student automatically obtains the grant through the home university without having to apply for it separately.

One of the Erasmus+ program’s main ambitions is to be as inclusive as possible. It aims at giving everyone interested in going abroad the possibility to do so. This means that students with families or special needs/disabilities can apply for an additional accessibility grant.

Another main aim of the Erasmus programme is to promote and support all forms of environmentally friendly travel. Therefore, a Green Travel top-up is offered to students that decide to use more sustainable means of transport (train, carpool or bicycle). 

Read more about the Erasmus+ additional grants under "How do I Finance my Exchange Studies?"

In Finland the Finnish National Agency for Education is responsible for the European Union’s education and youth programmes.

For more information about Erasmus+ please check the European Commission’s web site.

Hanken's Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE) 2021-2027:

Hanken's Erasmus Policy Statement:

Nordplus programme

In the Nordic countries there is the Nordic Council of Ministers’ programme called Nordplus. The Nordplus-programme has a specific network for schools of economics and for universities offering business studies, Norek. Co-operation between the Nordic universities is encouraged, among other things, through the issuing of grants for exchange studies. Hanken receives grants on a yearly basis for student exchange through the Norek-network. The grant is always issued through the home-university, which means that the student does not individually have to apply for the grant.

With some Nordic universities Hanken has both a Nordplus- and an Erasmus-agreement. This means that students that go on exchange to a Nordic country can receive either a Nordplus- or an Erasmus grant.

Read more about Nordplus.

Bilateral exchange agreements

Hanken has signed bilateral agreements of student exchange with universities outside the European Union, even if they do not belong to a specific programme. The Hanken Support Foundation (Stiftelsen Svenska handelshögskolan) offers grants to students that do their exchange period at a Hanken partner university outside Europe. The grants are automatically given to the students.

All student admitted to the Bachelor's degree programme after 2009 are required to conduct studies or an internship abroad. However, all students within the Master's degree programmes are encouraged to spend a semester abroad.

Learning goals after completed studies:

• you have a deeper understanding of diversity
• you have an international perspective on business studies and can operate in an international environment
• you can use your international experience in your future studies and in your future workplaces

Before the credits from your exchange semester can be transferred towards your Hanken degree you have to submit a report in Mobility Online as part of the exchange reporting. The answers to the two questions above will not be made public, but they will be used for Hanken's Assurance of Learning process. In the report you should:

• Reflect upon how the intercultural experiences (positive and/or negative) during your exchange semester have helped you develop your self-understanding and respect for differences. Give examples and discuss your role in the context.
• Reflect upon how you could make use of your intercultural experiences in your studies at Hanken and at future workplaces. Give examples.

Assessment criteria

The analysis of the reports will be used as support in developing the student's learning outcome. To see how you have achieved the learning goals your report will be analysed according to the assessment criteria below.

You can apply for exchange two times a year, January for exchange next autumn semester and June for exchange next Spring semester. This means that you need to apply approximately one semester before your planned exchange semester. It is however important to start planning your exchange well in advance before the application deadline.

Please see the Exchange Application page for information on application deadlines.

Bachelor students

Hanken’s Bachelor students with a mandatory semester abroad should apply for exchange during their second study year. The application date and which semester you go on exchange depends on your major:

You should follow this recommendation to make sure that your exchange fits well with your studies. You will write your bachelors thesis one semester and go on exchange the other semester during your third year at Hanken. Please note that if you don’t follow this recommendation, your studies might get prolonged. Students that have completed studies faster than the recommended study pace can under some circumstances apply for exchange earlier than planned (please see the requirements in Swedish).

If you have previously registered as absent for a semester, you can still apply for exchange during your third year at Hanken. You however still need to fulfil the requirements.

Master students

Master students are recommended to apply for exchange either semester 2 or 3 after they have started their studies at Hanken. Please note that if you have been accepted to a Hanken Master’s programme directly (not taken a Bachelor’s degree at Hanken), you can apply the earliest for semester 3. You exchange studies must fit withing your masters’ studies and should not prolong your studies at Hanken. If you have studied at Hanken for a long time, it might not always be justified to grant a student an exchange place. In such cases, an internship abroad may be a better option for the student.

Hanken students that have already been on exchange before, can apply again for a second time but they must have their bachelor's degree completed or get their degree certificate the next examination date after the exchange place allocation has been completed. 

I order to be eligible to apply for exchange studies at one of Hanken’s partner universities some requirements need to be met.

Requirements for students admitted directly to the Master's degree programme.

The requirements for students admitted to the integrated Bachelor's and Master's programme (in Swedish).

Students should study full-time whilst on exchange. The amount of credits that you need to complete at your host university is stated in the Mobility Online Portal. In most cases, a full course load is 30 credits/semester. Every student completes a Learning Agreement before or their exchange, by the latest in the beginning of the exchange semester. This way you will receive confirmation from Hanken that your studied credits can be transferred to your Hanken degree. Please read more about the transfer of credits under After the Exchange.

For Bachelor students it is recommended that your studies abroad are counted as a minor subject at Hanken. To fulfil the requirements for a minor, you need to complete at least 25 credits of which 15 credits are within business studies. Please however remember the full-time study requirement (usually 30 credits per semester). You can read more about the Bachelor’s degree structure here (only in Swedish).

For Master students it is recommended that your exchange studies are counted as elective studies in your degree. You can read more about the master’s degree structure here.

Before you apply for exchange:

1) Students familiarize themselves with Hanken's partner universities and the requirements

Application for exchange:

2) Students apply for an exchange place according to the instructions

3) Hanken allocates the exchange places to eligible applicants

4) Hanken notifies students of their assigned exchange place (March/August)

5) Students confirm that they will accept the exchange place (or decline)

6) Hanken nominates students to their respective host universities (April/September)

Before the exchange:

7) The host university contacts students with instructions on how to apply/register

8) Students send in the application and attachments to the host university

9) The host university sends an acceptance letter to the student

10) Students prepare their stay abroad (book tickets and accommodation, apply for visas, take out insurance etc.)

During the exchange:

11) Students study abroad and contact Hanken if necessary

After the exchange:

12) Students report on the exchange in Hanken's Mobility Online

13) Students apply for the transfer of credits in Sisu

14) The host university sends a transcript of completed courses to Hanken

Take time to acquaint yourself with the available alternatives well in advance before you apply. You can visit the Mobility Online Portal to get an overview of all Hanken’s partner universities and those that are open for application. Not all partner universities are open for applications every semester.

You can find under each university their respective Fact Sheets with information for incoming exchange students. Please also look at the universities’ websites for incoming exchange students. If you are interested in knowing what students who have previously been on exchange thought of the partner university, you can read exchange reports under “Questionnaires”.  You can also contact the international coordinator at Hanken for their contact details. Hanken's incoming exchange students can help with information about their home universities.

You can choose among over 120 partner universities around the world. When thinking about your exchange options, you can take the following aspects into consideration:

• Language – do you want to better your language skills in a particular language?
• Culture – are you interested in a specific cultural area?
• City – do you want to live in a big city or a smaller town?
• The university – do you want to study at a large or small university? At a business school, an economics faculty or a grand école?
• Environment – do you want to go by train to the host country?
• Courses – do you want to deepen your knowledge in a specific subject during the exchange? Are you interested in quantitative courses?
• Semester dates – do you want the host university to have a similar semester division to Hanken?

You can see which level the exchange studies are (BSc = Bachelor / MSc = Master) in the Mobility Online Portal. You can limit the search results by selecting the study level. Bachelor's students cannot be allocated an exchange place at a university that only offers courses at master's level. Master's students may be assigned an exchange place at a university that only offers courses at bachelor's level (the optional studies in the master's degree can be at bachelor's level), but bachelor's students have priority for these places. Note that some exchange places are only aimed at bachelor students ("Only BSc students").

Familiarise yourself thoroughly with the programmes/courses offered at each university. Also note that some universities have a quantitative orientation, where students can choose courses mainly in economics or finance. Furthermore, please notice that the range of courses in English can be quite limited at some universities.

Follow the political situation around the world and decide if you want to go on exchange to certain countries. If you finally decide to decline an assigned exchange place due to e.g. a natural disaster, Hanken can only in certain limited cases try to arrange a new exchange place to another university.

When you choose the partner university, it is important that you are aware that the semester dates vary, and the semester division is not always the same as at Hanken. The autumn term at some universities doesn’t start until October and goes through to January-March, which means you have to go back after Christmas to complete the term and examinations. You can find estimations in the file below. Please check the exact term dates on university's websites or in the Fact sheet in the Mobility Online portal. Please note that you cannot cancel the semester before the semester ends and you have passed all exams.

Possible language test

It is important that you can prove your language competence in order to successfully study at the host university. Language competence is proven either through completed language courses at Hanken or through an internationally recognized language test. Some partner universities require a language test in English (TOEFL or IELTS) and this case it is indicated under the university in the Mobility Online Portal. The language test must be written before the end of the application period. If you have taken the test before the application deadline, but do not yet have the result, contact the international coordinator. You can read more about the language requirements in the document under the Requirements page.

Read more about the international language tests:

In English:

TOEFL iBT-test: About TOEFL on Fulbright's webpages (in Finnish). The test is organised by ETS.

When you take the TOEFL test, you must tick that you want the test results sent directly to Hanken. You must then fill in the code for Hanken, which is 8433 (institution code). At this stage, you do not need to send the test to the universities you intend to apply to.

IELTS-test: Finnbrit webpage and IELTS webpage.

In French:

DALF: Institut Français de Finlande. 

In German:

TestDaf: TestDaf and Goethe Institut Finland

In Spanish:

DELE: Instituto Cervantes and DELE.

In the Mobility Online Portal you will find information about Hanken's partner universities as well as any pre-requisites that the student will need to fulfill in order to be eligible to apply for exchange studies at a specific partner university. Please note that level of study, language requirement, subject (e.g. limited to only Economics) and number of places can change from semester to semester. Please also note that some universites have a very quantitative approach. You must check carefully the information for the universities you are interested in. 

Instructions

How to search the Mobility Online Portal:

• Choose Study Level, Continent, Country and/or Partner institution.
• Click on Show exchange details
• For more information about the university click on the document icon (display details) next to the red/green icon (the icon is green when the application is open). The following information will be showed: level of the exchange studies (Bachelor/Master), language of instruction, Internet address of the university, any pre-requisites that must be fulfilled in order to be eligible to apply for exchange studies at the specific university, number of exchange places, length of term, amount of scholarship etc.
• To return to the start page click on Close Window and then Back to Preselection
• In the uploaded Fact Sheet you will find the partner university's own information about the exchange programme, this information may be from the previous year. Please note that you should always check the pre-requisites in the Mobility Online Portal under Additional Requirements (not the fact sheet).
• Some partner universities only accept students during autumn or spring semester. When the exchange application is open, only the available options will be displayed in the portal. 

When the exchange application is open you will be able to access the online application by clicking on the green icon next to the university you want to apply for. Please read through Exchange application page before starting your exchange application.

In the Mobility Online Portal you will find exchange reports written by students.

How to use the Mobility Online Portal to see the exchange reports:

• Start by clicking "QUESTIONNAIRES" in the upper right corner
• You can search for reports by choosing Continent, Country and/or Partner institution. You can also search by only Continent or Country
• Click on Show all existing questionnaires
• In order to see a report, click Open the questionnaire document icon to the far left of the university that you wish to view
• You can navigate the report by clicking the page numbers above the questions and answers or by clicking Next page
• In order to see the report as a pdf file or for printing or to save on your computer, click Print under the answer fields
• To return to the start page click on Close Window and then Back to Preselection

Please also note that there are no exchange reports available from new partner universities until someone has been there on exchange.

Grants

All students going on an exchange within the Hanken exchange programme are entitled to a scholarship from Hanken. The scholarships are intended to function as partial financing of the exchange and you are expected to study full-time at your host university (please see the terms & conditions you accepted before your exchange). The amount of the scholarship for to each university can be found in the Mobility Online Portal.

Please note

• You can only receive one grant for either exchange studies or an internship during each study level.

• You can only apply for either exchange studies or an internship grant during one application round (January - March).

• If you choose to study abroad as a freemover (at a university that is not a partner university of Hanken) you will not be entitled to a scholarship from Hanken

Other grants

You can read more about how you can finance your exchange studies under Before the Exchange. 

Students with fewer opportunities can participate in the exchange as well. Please, read more under “Students with opportunities”

There is financial support offered for students with fewer opportunities. Please, reach out to the International Coordinator well in advance (outgoing.mobility (at) hanken.fi) so that you together can find a suitable partner university for you.

Students with fewer opportunities can receive a top-up grant from Erasmus+ or Nordplus. Please, read more here on the Finnish National Agency for Education on what opportunities you may have. You can find information on who the scholarship is for, how to apply and the application form itself.

Please also read the checklist for international student exchange without obstacles. The application form must be filled in by you and also by the international coordinator at Hanken, who will submit the application to the National Agency for Education. The Finnish National Agency for Education makes the final decision on a possible additional scholarship.

You can apply for a top up grant if you belong to one of the following groups

Social obstacles: 

• students with families (student has an underaged child or children) 
• students who are family carers (student has an agreement of informal care with the municipality) 

Disabilities: 

• students with EU’s disability card or who have a right for the card 

• student with disabilities

Health obstacles:

• students having severe and/or chronic health problems (at least moderate functional deficiency) 

Migrant background:

• students who have received international protection (refugees, asylum seekers, students who have been granted international, subsidiary or temporary protection, or the student has a refugee’s passport) 

You can also choose to go on exchange to another university outside of Hanken’s partners as a “Freemover student”. However, in this case you need to arrange everything yourself. This also means that you cannot apply to a Hanken partner university

If you go on exchange on your own, you won’t get a scholarship from Hanken. If you are a Hanken Bachelor student and want to get the exchange approved as a study abroad, you need to study at least 30 ECTS/semester (or corresponding).

You need to get approval from Hanken in advance that your exchange university can be approved. Please note that transfer of credits can only be done by applying and that it isn’t an automatic right!

Requirements and information on free mover exchange.

This section is only relevant to Hanken bachelor students with a mandatory semester abroad.

For specific reasons, a student may be granted exemption from the stay abroad. Such exemptions are granted by the Director for Studies and Admissions. Specific reasons in this respect are the student’s

a) family circumstances and custodial responsibilities,

b) illness or a difficult life situation, or

c) substantial societal activities.

You’ll find more information about the exemption as well as the application form on the Swedish site.