A university for the changing world: AUT University Business School

19 Sep 2016

What field consistently produces the largest number of graduates each year? These statistics have the answer.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, the greatest number of degrees conferred in 2016 was in business.
In the UK, it was business and management students, according to a study by The Telegraph in 2016.
In Australia, The Huffington Post placed business and law in high demand.

From the above, clearly the common denominator is business.

And why does business and related studies like finance, accounting, management and economics attract so many students? Apart from the belief that doing business equals making money, the reasons go deeper than that. Graduates in these areas tend to be in greater demand worldwide and are also well paid, with starting salaries as much as $43,500 in the U.S.. Careers in business are also often very diverse, which is appealing to students who may work in any number of sectors from accounting and finance to marketing, advertising, retail, sales, human resources or in consultancy.

Business also touches on many aspects of life and the foundation laid in undergraduate-level business degrees can be very useful in numerous fields, again making graduates more globally employable.

At the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) Business School, students pursuing business degrees can choose to be as general or specialized as they wish with plenty of opportunities for further or conjoined study. With a diverse choice of majors on offer, education seekers here can combine specializations across a variety of business-related disciplines such as accounting, international business or even design.

The AUT University Business School attracts some 5,000 business people and entrepreneurs, making it one of the largest providers of business education in New Zealand. It also has an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation, which held by only 5 percent of business schools worldwide. This immediately puts it on a platform shared by a very select class of universities.

AUT University Business School also has significant international connections and students can undertake an international exchange with some of the best business schools in Europe, Asia, and North America.

In the three-year Business degree program, students can choose one or two majors from the 11 available, or choose a selected minor from a wider range of subjects.

Majors include accounting, business information systems, design, economics, entrepreneurship and innovation, finance, human resource management and employment relations, international business, management, market insights and sustainable enterprise.

The majors all provide an introduction to a particular role in business and the various concepts and management involved. For example the Accounting major provides an understanding of accounting controls, international regulations and practices, and how accounting supports management decision-making. The Economics major concerns resource allocation in business operations and government policies. The International Business major is perhaps one of the most relevant to today’s global markets and includes trade, international investment and offshore sourcing. The Finance major focuses on currency, stocks and bonds and in the Market Insights major students learn how to reach consumers and shoppers and increase market share.

A cornerstone of the faculty’s educational philosophy is to provide world-class education that encourages students to become critical-thinkers who easily adapt and thrive in the modern world. Students are also offered plenty of extensive engagement with businesses, professionals and the community so they leave the classroom work-ready.

Alex Medland-Slater, a Bachelor of Business (Honours) and Bachelor of Business in Finance, joined AUT University as an international student from England when he realised how strong AUT’s industry links were. He also appreciated their focus on creating career ready graduates.

“AUT offers a number of valuable services like CareerHub and InterNZ where students can sign up for internships, graduate jobs or positions for their workplace experience,” he said. “AUT also hosts the Accounting and Finance Career Fair where students can talk to potential employers and explore what it takes to secure a great job.”

Along with the work internships, one of the other benefits of studying at AUT University is the chance to opt for a double degree. A double degree in Business and Law is one of the most common areas in which business students merge their specializations, and another way in which graduates from AUT University Business School can stand out from the crowd with the added qualification in their CVs.

Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Business in Marketing and Finance double degree Rebecca Cross said an AUT University degree was a good way to gain a head start in a highly competitive field because of the work-ready nature of the course.

“Mooting, negotiation and bail applications are woven into our compulsory papers so when we graduate and start clerking we have had a taste of the work lawyers do. Giving students the chance to develop these practical skills is a really fantastic part of the degree,” she said.

This, combined with rankings that regularly puts AUT University amongst the world’s best universities for its quality of teaching, research, citations, international outlook and industry income, are amongst the many reasons to choose AUT University Business School over similar institutions.

Times Higher Education ranked AUT as one of the world’s top 150 young universities and QS World University Rankings has it in the top three percent of universities worldwide, coming in the top 450 in 2016/17.

AUT University is also the fastest growing university in New Zealand and is located in the country’s largest, most populous urban area of Auckland, a bustling cosmopolitan known as one of the world’s most culturally diverse cities.