Since its establishment in 1920 as the Faculty of Economics of the Royal Hungarian University, the university has undergone several name changes. It was the Karl Marx University of Economic Sciences in 1953, then the University of Economics of Budapest in 1990, before finally becoming Corvinus University of Budapest in 2004. It is a research university, oriented towards teaching.
The name refers to the Corvinae (the Latin term for codices). It also relates to the Biblioteca Corviniana, one of the most famous libraries of the Renaissance era, which was built under the rule of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary but destroyed by the Ottomans in the Battle of Mohács in 1526.
Through its three faculties, business administration, economics and social sciences, students can study for bachelor, master and doctoral level degrees taught in Hungarian, English, French or German.
Formerly the Customs House of Budapest, the university’s main building (on the left bank of the Danube River) was designed by one of Hungary’s most famous architects, Miklós Ybl, and is in a neo-renaissance style. It was used by Hungarian, German and Soviet troops as a military base in World War Two and is now one of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites.
The Corvinus University of Budapest hosts the largest number of incoming Erasmus students in Hungary and is in the top three Hungarian universities for sending outgoing students abroad.
It became a member of Aiesec in 1972, the world’s biggest international non-profit organisation run by students, which is present in more than 100 countries and across 1,600 universities.
Notable alumni include former Hungarian Prime Ministers Bajnai Gordon, Medgyessy Péter and Németh Miklós, as well as deputy assistant to US President Donald Trump Sebastian Gorka.
