School of Higher Commercial Studies (EHEC Algiers)

Originally established as the ITC Institute of Technology and Commerce in 1970, EHEC Algiers has undergone major transformations in the current century.

Previously a provider of qualifications for commercial-management executives and senior trade inspectors, it became an Ecole Superieure in 2008 and took its current name in 2009.

Since 2011, it has offered a master’s in business science, following the five-year model that Algeria inherited from France. Students do two years of preparatory work. If successful in a competitive examination, they then move into a second cycle, studying a common core in the third year, followed by specialisms in the fourth and fifth years. Current options for specialisation are international business, marketing, international supply-chain management, finance and accounting, and management and entrepreneurship.

EHEC Algiers also offers doctoral programmes, and currently has more than 250 students registered for these. Since 2011, it has hosted two national research laboratories, MARKETIC for marketing and ICT and PERMANAN for management, performance and innovation.

Entry is highly competitive. The minimum Baccalaureate score for the preparatory section is 14.75, while only 60 out of 399 applicants were accepted for the second cycle in 2023.

Previously based in Algiers, in 2014 EHEC moved to a purpose-built campus at Kolea, about 15 miles outside the capital. It shares this site with the schools of business (ESC), management (ENSM) and statistics and applied economics (ENSSEA). In January 2023, new offices were opened for each of the schools. There are plans to ensure sustainability through effective waste and water management.