[7] The roots of RSM stretch back to the founding of Erasmus University as the Dutch School of Higher Commercial Education in 1913.

Originally a business-oriented institution, the Dutch School of Higher Commercial Education was a private initiative established with the support of the Rotterdam business community.

[8] In 1966 Erasmus University (then the Netherlands Institute for Economic Science), commissioned an investigation into the feasibility of founding a Graduate School of Management dedicated to the subject of business administration.

The school became the first in the Netherlands to offer the degree “Doctorandus in de Bedrijfskunde” post-kandidaats, for students with a university qualification in a non-business discipline.

[8] In 1972 the school moved to new premises in Delft and was once again remodelled, this time as the Interuniversities Institute for Business Administration (‘Interuniversitair Instituut Bedrijfskunde’ or IIB).

The first exchange programme was established in 1980 with the French Institut Supérieur des Affaires, visited by IIB-students Hans van der Laan and Rino Schreuder.

[8] In 1986 the Graduate School of Management Delft moved back to the premises of Erasmus University, and was renamed the Faculty of Business Administration.

In 1966 a consensus on the lack of suitable training and higher educational facilities for managers in the Netherlands spurred Dutch-based multinationals including Royal Dutch Shell, Unilever and Philips to establish the Foundation for Business Administration (Stichting Bedrijfskunde), which was attached to the Netherlands University of Economics at Rotterdam.

The founders of RSM each donated two million guilders and included: In 1985 Rotterdam School of Management launched its International Full-time MBA programme, initially offered in both Dutch and English.

The RSM China office offers services to prospective students, partners, and alumni as well as maintains relationships with research universities and business schools.

[12] For the master admission candidates are selected based on sufficient background in bachelor studies as well as academic performance, GMAT results and English proficiency.