MIB School of Management

Age: 23

History: The school was founded in 1988, a collaboration between academia and big business. The school offers management courses from an international perspective, and does research in international management.

Address: The school is located in Trieste, one of the most multicultural and international cities in Italy. Trieste is where continental Europe ends and the Mediterranean begins. The city is at the centre of “new Europe”, on the border with Slovenia, Croatia and Austria. Trieste is the Italian hub of insurance and financial services groups such as Allianz and Generali Group.

Ambience: It is housed in a prestigious building called Ferdinandeo Palace, in 220 acres of parkland near the city centre. The MIB Palace combines history with modern training facilities: recent restructuring has made it one of Europe's most avant-garde educational centres. Inside, there's a 200-seat conference hall, a library, reading rooms, computer rooms, group study rooms, a coffee bar with an outside terrace and a restaurant. A new building closed to the ancient one is now under construction to enlarge opportunities for courses and events.

Vital statistics: The school has eight Masters programs: three full-time; four part-time; and one online. Half of these are delivered in English. International students from up to 60 different countries make up 60 per cent of the annual intake.

Added value: An international environment with high quality programmes certified by national and international accreditations with close ties to the business world, says the school. Many companies have formal agreements as partners or sponsors, making job searching a doddle. The school states: “People are not number in a School where quality is much more important than quantity.”

Easy to get into? The international MBA (full-time and part-time) requires a university degree and three years' professional experience. Executive MBA students need significant professional experience. An interview is compulsory, but TOEFL and GMAT qualifications are not.

Glittering alumni: Hemin Kong, general manager, Luxottica China; Roberta Marracino, director of communications, McKinsey & Company; Giorgio Davidoni, HR director, Eli Lilly Italia; Simone Salerni, assistant director, Allianz.

Gurus: Mario Draghi, Governor, the Bank of Italy; E Tomaso Cucchiani, CEO, Allianz Spa; Edward De Bono; Alessandro Profumo, CEO, Unicredit Group.

International connections: MIB students and alumni represent more than 60 countries and the faculty represents 25. The school has nine partnership agreements with other business schools across the world, as well as more than 200 sponsors.

Teaching: A qualified, permanent, full-time internal faculty who teaches alongside visiting professors.

Student profile: On the international MBA the average age is 28 with work experience of around four years. On the executive MBA the average age is 35 with work experience of nine years.

Cost: The full time international MBA is €22,000 and the part time is €24,000.

Who's the boss? Professor Vladimir Nanut is Dean.

Prospectus: +39 040 9188 111; www.mib.edu; info@mib.edu