ALBA Graduate Business School

Age: 19

History: ALBA was founded in 1992 through a joint initiative of the Federation of Greek Industries (the leading employers' union in Greece) and the Hellenic Management Association. In 1995, the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry became the third collective body of Greek businesses, under whose auspices ALBA now operates.

Address: Just outside Athens, in the beautiful seaside suburb of Vouliagmeni.

Ambience: The school is housed in state-of-the-art facilities 25km from the city centre and within walking distance from the beach.

Vital statistics: On average, 90 per cent of the ALBA graduates from all academic programmes are employed by leading companies within three months after completing their studies. Every year 40 per cent of its full time students are international ones covering a wide range of nationalities including Bulgarians, Romanians, South Africans, Nigerians, USA, etc.

Added value: All MBA programs are accredited by AMBA. In 2009 the MSc in Finance and MSc in Strategic HRM received the EPAS – EFMD accreditation. In the last nine years, ALBA has won two 1st place awards (2003 and 2005), two runner-up awards (2006 and 2007) and one 2nd runner-up award (2008) at the European Business Plan of the Year competition.

Easy to get into? You'll need an undergraduate degree or equivalent and fluency in English, proven by holding a TOEFL (minimum score 88) or IELTS (minimum score 6.5) qualification. Ideal candidates should also have three years of work experience.

Glittering alumni: Anastasios Tzoulas, CFO, Romtelecom SA – Romania; Stavros Platakis, General Manager, Novo Nordisk Tunisia; Ivaylo Hadjiev, Head of Investment Products and Private Banking, DSKBANK, Bulgaria

Gurus: Professor Nickolaos G. Travlos, The Kitty Kyriacopoulos Chair in Finance; Dr Epitropaki Olga, associate professor of organizational behavior and human resources management.

International connections: ALBA maintains a developing network of partners across the world. Through the network of exchange programs, graduate students from international business schools around the world have the opportunity to study at ALBA and vice versa. Through such programs, students have the opportunity to build international networks of business and social contacts and thus, benefit from the fruitful exchange of knowledge, experience and cultural insights.

Teaching: ALBA in all of its programs focuses on hands-on experience. Apart from the core curriculum, students attend several workshops during the course of the year, aiming at improving their personal skill like teamwork, writing and presentation, communication and negotiation.

Student profile: The average age on the full-time MBA is 26, on the part-time, 31. Male to female ratio is about even, and EU and international students make up a third of the full-time MBA intake. 40 per cent of the full time programs participants are international students.

Cost: The full-fime MBA is €20,100 payable in six instalments which include books and teaching materials. The Professional MBA, MBA in banking and MBA in shipping are all €19,700 or € 20,700 if paid in instalments; MSc in Strategic Human Resource Management is €14,400 and MSc in Finance is €15,700.

Return on investment: Attractive career opportunities, good contacts via the alumni association.

Who's the boss? Professor Nickolaos G. Travlos is the dean.

Prospectus: +30 210 8964 531-8; www.alba.edu.gr; international@alba.edu.gr