Prague University of Economics – VŠE
VŠE (Výsoka Škola Ekonomika) started out life in 1919 known as VŠO (Commercial College) which was originally part of the Czech Technical University. It taught banking, wholesale trade and company organisation. Post-war 1949 it formed as a university for the first time and was called the University of Political and Economic Sciences but by 1953 it dropped the political side and became the University of Economics in Prague with faculties for General Economics, Production Economics, Finance and credit, Commerce and Statistics. In 1998 it was granted full membership of the Community of European Management Schools (CEMS).
Modern day VŠE has faculties for Finance and Accounting, Business Administration, Informatics and Statistics, Economics, Management and International Relations. It has a successful student exchange program with European Partners under the Erasmus program and non-European Partners based on bilateral agreements. As well as Bachelor, Post-Graduate, Masters and PhD programs the University also offers the specific CESP (Central European Study Program) which is a 1 or 2 semester crash course in Central and Eastern European Economics.
Location
They have properties all over the city but the main campus of VŠE is in Prague 2 in the Vinohrady and Žižkov areas of Prague. This is a very “Bohemian” area with a lot of independent places for students to meet and enjoy themselves after study. Even the name of the area “U Rajske Zahrady” (at the place of the tomato garden) tells you how it was being used prior to 1918. It’s my favourite area.
Where to Stay to get to and from VŠE
For the main campus ideally you’d like to stay local which means Vinohrady or ŽIžkov. Vinohrady will be expensive but you can find single rooms for rent at around CZK9000 per month (including services). Even this will be too expensive for many so there are a couple more options. On the Seifertova side of Zizkov is a tram line and this gives you access to many more cheaper options and VŠE is on this line or if you go even further over, a street called Konevova may also provide options (this area can also be called “Vitkov”). The other place to look is Strašnice. Vinohrady has a main road running through it called Vinohradska. At one end of the road is Muzeum which is at the top of Wenceslas Square. At the far end are Želivskeho and Strašnice with very reasonably priced accommodation and journey time to VŠE would be in the region of 15 minutes. From any of the lower Vinohradska tram stops it will be a 600 metre walk to VŠE.