Barcelona Graduate School of Economics, which opens its doors to full-time students this September, is to run two summer schools at the end of June.
The summer courses – in regional development and banking – are expected to attract 120 students and will be used to iron out any last minute glitches before the school’s inauguration.
Barcelona GSE will open with five masters programmes but plans to increase that number.
Andreu Mas-Colell, president of the new school, says it has been created to take advantage of a gap in the market. “We don’t want to be a business school, it would not be natural for us. Our strength, which I think is considerable, is in economics.”
The region is already well served by business schools, but a school that offers masters programmes based on economics “has the potential for growth”.
Prof Mas-Colell says September’s group will be between 140-160 strong, with many students coming from Italy and Turkey.
The school has guaranteed funding both from the public and private sectors for its first five years, after which Prof Mas-Colell is confident it will be self-sufficient.
