More international students choose to study at Norwegian School of Management BI

The Norwegian School of Management BI has more and more international students. 1 in 5 Master of Science students are international students and no less than 26 countries are represented in the lecture halls.

China, Ukraine and Romania are on top of the list. Hui Feng (26) is Chinese and graduated from The Norwegian School of Management BI in 2007. Already before she graduated she received several good job offers and decided to stay and work in Norway.

BI has seen an increasingly internationalization of the Master of Science program. 19% of the full-time students in this program are international students. In addition there is a considerable amount of exchange students. Together these make up more than 20% of all the master students. This is a big increase.

“We have seen an increase in the number of international students in our masters programs. In the recent years the percentage of international full-time students has been on an average 11 %. This year it has increased to 19%”, says Ann Kristin Calisch, Director of the BI Master Program.

Calish adds that BI‘s international strategy, to increase the percentage of international students to 25 % before 2010, is within reach. 

• BI International Students are popular on the job market

Numbers from BI‘s annual study of the job market shows that BI students are very sought after. 94 % of all the Master of Science students have jobs within six moths after they graduate. 78% has even been recruited for jobs before their graduation. The good situation in the job market also affects BI‘s international master students.

”I can relate to the results that the study shows. I am from China but I found an exciting job in Norway before I graduated” says Hui Feng who had a lot of fellow Chinese class mates while she studied at BI.

She graduated from BI with a Masters of Science in International Management in 2007, and like 94% of the master students who replied to the survey, she got a job relevant to her master from BI. She graduated in July 2007 but her job offer however she received already in May the same year. Hiu Feng now works as a Management Trainee at Det norske Veritas (DNV) just outside of Oslo.

“I chose Veritas because they have a good international profile, a long history and a good reputation. They also have a terrific trainee program and from January 2009 I will be placed for eight months somewhere around the world” Hui Feng tells us. She says that BI‘s international strategy and the focus on multicultural interaction is one of BI‘s absolute strong points.

• Norway has good working conditions

It was her boyfriend and present spouse who brought Hui Feng to Norway, and to the Norwegian School of Management BI in Nydalen. Hui Feng‘s husband is also Chinese but they have both decided to stay in Norway for some time.

The working conditions are one of the biggest advantages when it comes to working and living in Norway.

“In Norway it is possible to combine work and private life. There is a good balance. In China on the other hand, the economy is developing in a pace that requires you spend all your time on your job” Hui Feng concludes.