Thessaloniki CITY College, Greece

Age: CITY College was founded in Thessaloniki in 1989 by the Strategakis Organization.

History: Four years after the college was founded, CITY signed an official agreement with the University of Sheffield and assumed responsibility for running a series of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Thessaloniki. In 1997 it became one of Sheffield's affiliated colleges.

Address: Stein Site, Kalapothaki St, Thessaloniki.

Ambience: The college is located in the historical centre of the city, while the Centre for Executive Education is based in the historic Stein building which dates back to 1906.

Vital statistics: The college has three departments: business administration and economics; computer science; and psychology. The Executive Education Center (EXED) runs the executive MBA programme. It's international, attracting managers from 13 different countries within Europe, and currently has 340 managers on its books. Every year, around 170 managers are admitted to the programmme in the three three cities in which it is offered (Thessaloniki, Belgrade and Bucharest). More than 50 lecturers from Greece, the UK, USA and Canada teach on the MBA programmme.

Added value: Particular focus on strategy, entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership. The MBA programme was accredited by AMBA in 2008, and is also recognized by the Charted Management Institute (CMI). Students completing the executive MBA also meet the requirements of the CMI's executive diploma in strategic management and gain an NQF level seven diploma, allowing them to proceed towards chartered manager status.

Easy to get into? Access to the MBA programme requires a good undergraduate degree and at least three (preferably five) years' work experience. Candidates whose first language is not English need a minimum IELTS score of 6.5.

Glittering alumni: Natasha Savova, secretary, Cabinet of the President, FYR Macedonia; Vladimir Afenliev, country manager, Abbott Laboratories, Bulgaria; Yuriy Stanchev, managing director, Eurobank, Bulgaria.

Gurus: Professor Chris Brewster, human resource management and leadership.

International connections: Good links with senior scholars at institutions all over south east Europe, the UK and further afield.

Teaching: The college focuses on case driven research and teaching, so only the most up to date information is presented in class. Within each four-person teaching team, at least one member will be actively involved in research.

Student profile: The average age of MBA students is 33, and around 40 per cent are female.

Cost: MBA is around €14,500 (£12,083). MSc degrees cost around €10,000 (£8,333).

Return on investment: A recent survey showed that students who graduated from the executive MBA gained a 93 per cent per cent salary increase three to five years after leaving.

Who's the boss? Executive MBA programmme director is George Efstathiadis, senior lecturer in marketing and new product and service development.

Prospectus: +30 2310 224026; www.city.academic.gr; acareg@city.academic.gr