November 30th 2020

MCI Online graduation with Ban Ki Moon

Ban Ki Moon as keynote speaker | 1,000 graduates in 2020 | Digital graduation in a festive setting | Now 13,000 MCI Alumni

Ban Ki Moon addresses MCI alumni during their virtual graduation ceremony. (c)MCI
Ban Ki Moon addresses MCI alumni during their virtual graduation ceremony. (c)MCI

This year's graduation ceremony at MCI was held virtually for the first time. With video messages from outstanding personalities such as the 8th Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, Tyrolean Governor Günther Platter and many more, as well as creative recommendations to create a festive ambience at home, the virtual graduation ceremony was a complete success.

Ban Ki Moon addresses MCI graduates

954 students graduated in the turbulent year of 2020. In his video speech, Ban Ki Moon motivates the new alumni of the Entrepreneurship School® by saying: "Young people like you are at the very center of the world’s solutions to the important issues that will in many ways define your future, including public health, climate change and inequality But the United Nations, politicians and business leaders alone will not solve these problems. That is why engaged young global citizens like you are an essential part of the equation but you will need a global vision to do so.”

13,000 MCI Alumni

Since the founding of the Entrepreneurial School in 1996, the number of alumni has now grown to 13,000. With a success rate of 85%, MCI graduates can look into the future with confidence. Dedicated teaching staff, intensive support and a range of other services such as tutorials and efficient student services have once again successfully supported students this year. "We are proud that we were able to accompany such a large number of students on their way to graduate in this turbulent year. The last year was extremely difficult and presented our graduates with immense challenges, which they mastered in an outstanding way - congratulations! We did our best to create a festive setting with our virtual graduation ceremony that is worthy of the circumstances", says MCI Rector Andreas Altmann.

Enormous demand from the labor market

Thanks to close cooperation with the business community and the practical orientation of all its study programs, MCI graduates are in particularly high demand and receive on average 2.6 job offers upon graduation.

Festive atmosphere also possible virtually

With the help of the MCI Graduation 2020 checklist, MCI recommended graduates to create a festive atmosphere, which was received enthusiastically. With an online link, friends, colleagues and relatives from all over the world were able to participate virtually in the graduation.

Magdalena Posch, graduate of the Master's program in Management, Communication & IT, describes: "The digital ceremony gave us the opportunity to review the past four semesters of the Master's program and at the same time look forward to the future - to all the challenges that await us in the wide world as new Master's graduates, to which we can now devote ourselves responsibly and thus contribute to solutions for human society.”

Further congratulators from economy, politics and education

  • Vivianne Reding, Former Vice President of the European Commission
  • Georg Willi, Mayor of the state capital Innsbruck
  • Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for Budget and Administration
  • Hap Klopp, Founder The North Face
  • Cassandra Sciortino, Professor, University of California at Berkeley
  • Phani, Tej Adidam, Professor & Chairman, University of Nebraska at Omaha
  • Tim Mescon, Executive Vice President, AACSB International
  • Joe Nellis, Professor of Global Economy, Deputy Director, Cranfield University
  • Laura Leyser, Director General, Medicines Sans Frontieres