HIM Business School Montreux
For years, the name Hotel Institute Montreux meant one thing to most people: a place to train hoteliers on the shores of Lake Geneva. The school still carries the HIM abbreviation, but it now presents itself as a business school, and the change affects what applicants study, what they pay and what sort of certificate they leave with. This guide sets out the verified details for anyone weighing a place in Montreux, from the curriculum and fees to language, age and admission rules.
HIM Business School began in 1985 and sits in the centre of Montreux, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. It is a private institution and belongs to Swiss Education Group, the network that also runs several other hospitality and culinary schools in the country. The campus is spread across four buildings within walking distance of each other, and the school says its community includes more than 50 nationalities and over 10,000 alumni. The shift in identity was deliberate. Dean Claire Jollain told Poets&Quants for Undergrads in October 2025: “We shifted from being a hotel school to a business school three years ago.” She added that the hands-on, vocational teaching model was kept.
That model is the main selling point. The flagship Bachelor of Business Administration lasts three years and alternates campus study with work placements. Each year, according to the dean, students spend six months in class and six months on a full-time internship, so a graduate leaves with about 18 months of professional experience. The school describes the internships as guaranteed and international, and says a Swiss internship can pay up to CHF 2,350 gross per month. Treat the pay figure as an upper bound the school quotes, not a promise.
The curriculum has a clear shape. Year one is common to everyone and covers business foundations: introduction to customer experience, mathematics for business, accounting principles, introduction to finance, marketing principles, microeconomics, data-driven decision-making, front office management, world cultures, academic writing, and a language course in French, German or Spanish. In year two students choose a major from four options: Finance, Marketing, Management or Hospitality Management. Shared classes at this stage include macroeconomics, principles of management, financial and managerial accounting, financial management, and a course called Innovating with AI. Each major adds five or six introductory courses. Year three moves to strategic planning, business law, organizational behaviour, environmental science, ethical leadership and economics of public policy, plus six advanced courses in the chosen major. Finance students, for example, study international finance, real estate finance and corporate investment decisions, while hospitality students take yield and revenue management and responsible resort management.
The qualification is worth reading closely, because it has two parts. Graduates receive a Bachelor of Business Administration in their chosen major awarded by Northwood University in the United States, whose programmes the school says are accredited through ACBSP. HIM also awards its own separate certificate. The school states that this second award does not necessarily give access to the Swiss higher education system. Its page also lists a Swiss Federal Diploma in Business Administration from HIM, starting from October 2026 and pending recognition, so that piece is not yet confirmed. Applicants who care about the Swiss diploma should ask the school for its current status in writing.
Language of instruction is English for the main programme. A bilingual French-English route lets students begin in French and move gradually toward English, and a Chinese-English version also exists. To join the English route, applicants need an IELTS Academic score of 5.5 or a TOEFL iBT score of 46, or an equivalent. Students below that level can take the school’s English Foundation Program first, which has intakes listed for July and October 2027.
On age, the school recommends a minimum of 18 years. It does not publish an upper limit on the pages reviewed for this article. Entry requires completed secondary education, and the accepted qualifications named by the school include the IB Diploma, Maturité, Abitur, the French Bac, two A-levels, or a high school diploma or equivalent. Candidates with prior study can ask about direct entry or credit transfer, which the school says can shorten the course.
Fees are the part most readers will want first, and they are high. The school’s 2026 fee table, in Swiss francs, puts the full BBA at CHF 129,400. Of that, tuition is CHF 79,200, accommodation CHF 13,200, meals CHF 11,400 and an infrastructure and services charge CHF 25,600. Each of the six study terms costs about CHF 21,500, with the first term slightly higher at CHF 21,900, and no school fees are charged during the three internship periods. Accommodation in a double standard room and meals are both compulsory for new students, so they cannot be removed from the bill. Upgrades to a single or deluxe room add between CHF 2,040 and CHF 4,200 per term.
Several smaller charges sit around that total. The application fee is CHF 150. After a provisional acceptance, a confirmation fee of CHF 3,000 must be paid within 30 days, and it counts toward the first term’s fees. Every applicant also pays a refundable security deposit of CHF 2,000, which the school can reduce for damage, unpaid small bills and some insurance premiums during internships. Cancellation insurance is optional at CHF 310 per term. Paying a term in full 90 days early earns a 2 percent discount. The school notes that fees are reviewed every year and can change, so the official tuition and fees page should be checked before any payment. This article is not financial advice, and families should compare the full cost, including flights, insurance and personal spending, against their budget. Scholarships exist for Swiss citizens, partner institutions and merit, along with payment plans, and the school says each is assessed case by case.
The application itself is three steps. Candidates register online and upload transcripts or diplomas, proof of English, a passport copy, a CV, a motivation letter of at least 500 words and reference letters where relevant. Documents not in English need an official translation. After review, successful applicants receive a provisional acceptance letter, pay the confirmation fee, and later receive an enrolment letter for the visa. The balance of the first term is due six weeks before the start date. Non-EU students apply for a Swiss student visa at the nearest embassy or consulate, and the decision rests with Swiss authorities. It can take up to 12 weeks, so the school advises allowing 8 to 12 weeks between applying and starting. The next intakes for the BBA are January, April and October 2027, and the full details sit on the BBA programme page.
Recognition needs careful reading too. HIM lists memberships and approvals including EduQua, the Federation of Swiss Private Schools, Swisstainable and the regional education association ACEIRV. It says it is a full member of EFMD, a European management education body, and that it holds accreditation from the higher education ministries of Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Two points deserve care. The ACBSP accreditation belongs to Northwood’s programmes, not to HIM itself. And EFMD membership is a different thing from the EQUIS accreditation that EFMD awards to some schools. The school also says it ranks eighth in the 2026 QS subject ranking for hospitality and leisure management, a claim that covers that subject area and not business education as a whole.
Beyond the bachelor’s degree, HIM lists a 2.5-year advanced federal diploma, short study-abroad stays of 11 to 22 weeks, and a one-year Master in Applied AI in Customer Experience with a January 2027 start and a listed cost of CHF 38,000.
The trade-off for a prospective student is easy to state. HIM offers a short three-year degree, guaranteed placements and a small, international campus in a well-known Swiss town, against a total bill above CHF 129,000 and a Swiss certificate whose recognition is still being confirmed. The US-awarded degree is the more established credential, so applicants should ask exactly how each award will be treated in the country where they plan to study or work.
