Its main goal is to enable its members to achieve a high level of proficiency in economics and social sciences, and to master their academic skills in a democratic, deeply communal environment.

The more popular the lectures became, the more the members felt that they needed to establish their own community in a professional structure as a College for Advanced Studies.

The college was named after István Széchenyi, one of the greatest statesmen in Hungarian history as a tribute to the renowned politician, theorist, and writer.

After the regime change, the college established itself as a politically neutral professional institution with the aim of providing cutting-edge knowledge to its members, supplementary to university education.

During the final years of the communist regimes in East-Central Europe, members travelled through the Hungarian-Romanian border, bringing aid and supplies in their backpacks.

The goal of the educational system of the college is to endow its members with high-level literacy in the field of economics and social sciences, which makes them competitive anywhere in the world.

These courses are consisted of a maximum of 8 students and the members of the college have to prepare on a weekly bases by going through relevant scientific texts, and debating them under the coordination of the lecturer.

Other prominent events organised by the college include international conferences, like the Negative Ties and Social Networks Workshop[2] and the annual lecture about the achievements of the Nobel-laureates in Economics.

Everyday operation and strategic planning in the college are based on three pillars: i) academic and professional excellence, ii) strong community iii) social awareness and responsibility.

The decision-making process is mainly driven by the intention of achieving consensus through finding the common ground between potentially different views, facilitating constructive debate, while maintaining the efficient functioning of the college.

In line with the principle of self-governance, the main decision-making authority of the college is the General Assembly, which makes strategic decisions, and elects members and operative leaders of the three committees responsible for day-to-day functioning.