The business world is as vast as it is inspiring. Whatever your career goals are, studying business at UQ can prepare you for a range of rewarding opportunities across diverse industries.
A business degree from UQ will give you insights into the forces and best practices that drive organisational success, influence customer behaviour and shape industries worldwide. You’ll cover a wide range of topics, including innovation, leadership, marketing, finance, accounting, tourism, analytics and more.
How to study business at UQ
You might be wondering not only where to study business, but how to study it too. One of the advantages of studying business at UQ is that we offer a diverse range of undergraduate programs in this field:
- Bachelor of Business Management
- Bachelor of Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Advanced Business (Honours)
- Bachelor of Advanced Finance and Economics (Honours)
Choose a program that aligns with your goals and interests or pursue a dual degree, combining business with areas such as economics, arts, law, engineering and communication.
Why study business at UQ?
We offer a range of modern facilities, opportunities to develop your practical skills and dedicated support to help you prepare for a rewarding career. Let’s dive in and learn more about these benefits of studying business at UQ.
1. Global recognition with rankings to back our expertise
When we say UQ is one the best universities to study business at, we have the stats to back it up. We are a globally recognised university that consistently ranks well for its business offerings. Here are a few of our recent rankings:
- #1 in Queensland for business and management (QS World University Rankings 2024)
- #5 in Australia for business and economics (Times Higher Education World
University Rankings by Subject 2024) - #30 in the world for business administration (Shanghai Ranking, Academic Ranking of World Universities 2024)
We work hard to maintain these rankings by regularly updating our programs and the way we deliver content. This ensures you’re learning the latest industry insights and practices, which you can apply now and in the future.
2. Career support, work experience and exciting internship opportunities
Growth for business, human resource and marketing professionals will be 10.5% in the next 5 years until 2028, according to Jobs and Skills Australia predictions. If you’re considering where to study business to have the best chance of securing your dream graduate role, we’ve got you covered.
Access to dedicated career support
When you study business at UQ, you can get expert advice and support from our Careers and Employability team for business, economics and law students. The specialists in this team have extensive recruitment and industry experience. They can give you individual coaching, feedback on your resume and practical tips to help you land exciting career opportunities. You can also make the most of the wide range of careers and industry networking workshops and events they host specifically for students.
Business management and education student Appolonia Smith-Laffin visited the Careers and Employability team right at the start of her time at UQ. She says this was one of the best moves she made.
“Talking to career advisors gave me a real head start on my career planning,” she says.
I met with employers and learned about career pathways in various industries by attending many careers events.
"I really encourage students to make the most of the available support and resources.”
Learn more about Appolonia’s journey to UQ.
Internships and work experience
Our strong connections to leading companies in Australia and around the world mean studying business at UQ can help you secure exciting internships. During these internships, you’ll gain highly valued work experience with employers and prepare for the next step in your career progression.
Making the most of initiatives like our Student Work Experience Program or Work-integrated Learning courses will also help you stand out from the crowd in a highly competitive job market.
Our 10-day Learning by Doing in a Disruptive World work-integrated learning course provides students with the opportunity to tackle challenges from industry partners like Orange Sky. Riley Wimhurst was studying a Bachelor of Commerce when he completed this course and speaks highly of the experience.
“It’s been an excellent opportunity to practice the skills I’ve learned in my commerce degree for the sake of solving a real problem for a real industry client,” he says.
“Not only were we able to apply what we had learned in our studies to a real-world situation, but we were also able to make a tangible impact on the lives of people in need.”
Here are just some of the organisations where our students have completed placements or projects in the past:
- Department of Main Roads
- Virgin Australia
- Deloitte
- KPMG
- Earth Check
- Brisbane City Council
- Surf Life Saving Queensland
- Domino’s
- Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
- Orange Sky.
The experience working with real companies during internships at UQ has given me an edge and prepared me for the real work environment after graduation.
3. Modern facilities and opportunities to develop practical skills
Throughout your studies, you’ll participate in practical learning experiences that will test your understanding of the theory you’ve discussed in class. Another one of the key benefits of studying business at UQ is that you’ll have access to a variety of modern facilities that encourage hands-on learning.
- The Bloomberg Trading Lab is a replica trading environment. Having access to this Lab allows you to gain hands-on experience using the same financial trading information and technology relied on by professionals all over the world.
- Our Student-Managed Investment Fund lets you develop your asset management skills through managing a live equity portfolio.
- Newish is Australia’s first student-run communications agency. By joining, you'll apply classroom knowledge to real clients and bring marketing and advertising projects to life.
Business management and commerce student Nicole Petzer worked at Newish for 9 months during her studies.
UQ’s mix of theoretical and practical coursework has helped me develop my skills as a marketer, and identify areas I’m passionate about, so that I can enter the workforce with confidence and peace of mind.
“I truly believe that my time at Newish, backed by the coursework at UQ, has given me the confidence to go into the workforce fully equipped with the skills to thrive,” she says.
Read about Nicole’s experience launching a social media agency while still studying.
4. Passionate, engaging lecturers connected to industry
Today’s business environment is changing rapidly. Businesses in the public and private sectors, and not-for-profit organisations are facing multiple emerging challenges. These include technological disruption, artificial intelligence, sustainability and circular economy, as well as changing social and political landscapes.
Our academics are researching and working with industry to tackle these challenges. When you study business at UQ, you’ll learn from these passionate, engaging lecturers and be exposed to their ground-breaking research. You will engage with the topics that impact our world and are important to us as global citizens.
We’re preparing students by giving them the skills and knowledge they need, but we’re also giving them unique experiences they wouldn’t get elsewhere.
5. Exciting extracurricular activities
There’s more to university life than reading and exams. At UQ, you can take part in an array of programs and experiences that will help you thrive personally and professionally. Below are examples of extracurricular activities you might like to explore if you’re interested in studying business.
International experiences
Want to broaden your horizons? You can study overseas while earning credit for your degree with our short-term and semester-long exchanges. These opportunities allow you to see the world, gain invaluable cross-cultural experience and expand your future career prospects. Two examples are:
- Disney field study tour and cultural exchange program
Gain hands-on hospitality and event management experience at Walt Disney World in Florida with a 10-day Disney field study tour or 5-month cultural exchange. - UQ Ventures’ Startup AdVentures program
Complete a 4-week Startup AdVenture in Singapore, San Francisco, China or Vietnam to develop practical experience in international workplaces and a global professional network.
Business management student Jeremy Kester Hanani says his Startup AdVentures experience helped him gain exposure to the world of entrepreneurship.
I got to meet and work with brilliant startup founders in Singapore who are contributing to solving problems around the world. Connecting with, and learning from, these brilliant minds has been an amazing opportunity.
Clubs and societies
UQ has more than 200 student clubs and societies you can join. If you’re interested in studying business, you might like to join any of these societies:
- UQ Business Association
- UQ Business Analytics Networking Association
- Financial Management Association of Australia
- UQ Banking Club
- Tourism, Hospitality and Events Society
- University Network for Investing and Trading
- UQ Marketing and Advertising Society
Support for innovation and entrepreneurship
We believe UQ is the best place to study business because of our passion for entrepreneurship. In addition to the various entrepreneurship and innovation courses available to study, you can flex your creative muscles, test new ideas or even launch your own startup through our Ventures programs. Since launching in 2018, over 20,000 people have participated in various Ventures activities, and startups have attracted over $90million in investment and grants.
If you’ve got big business ideas, we want to hear about them, nurture them, and help bring them to life at UQ.
Explore UQ’s range of business programs to discover more reasons to put us as your first QTAC preference.
