Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration

Vienna University of Economics and Business

Type	Public
Established	1898
Rector	Edeltraud Hanappi-Egger
Administrative staff	2,327 (2016)
Students	23,782 (2016)
Location	Vienna, Austria
Campus	Urban
Affiliations	AMBA, EQUIS, CEMS, EFMD, EUA, AACSB, PIM
Website	www.wu.ac.at

The Vienna University of Economics and Business (German: Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien or WU) is the largest university focusing on business and economics in Europe and, in terms of student body, one of the largest universities in Austria. It has been ranked as one of the best business schools in Europe.

WU was founded on October 1, 1898 as k.u.k. Exportakademie to provide professional training to future businessmen and thus stimulate the Austro-Hungarian empire's economy. From humble beginnings as a professional school, it quickly grew to become an important institution, which was awarded the status of a fully-fledged Hochschule (an educational institution equivalent to a university, but specializing in a certain field such as technology or business or art) in 1919. At that time, it was renamed to Hochschule für Welthandel. The course of studies leading to the academic degree of Diplomkaufmann provided training preparing for the export and banking businesses and was very practical, comprising courses in business administration, economics, law and others. In 1930, the Hochschule für Welthandel was granted the right to issue doctoral degrees.

After World War II, the Hochschule für Welthandel increased its breadth in research. It started to become a very important institution in Austrian society at that time; most Austrian managers and many politicians received their university education here. From 1966 onward, it began to offer a more theoretical course of studies in economics. In 1975, it was renamed to Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien. At the same time, the number of students began to increase dramatically. In 1983, it moved to a campus in Vienna's 9th District. Due to further increasing student numbers during the 1990s the campus became too small. As a consequence, new premises had to be built in Vienna's 2nd district. The new Campus WU opened in October 2013, next to the Vienna Fair Ground.