Addis Ababa University College of Business and Economics, School of Commerce (AAUSC) was established in 1943. Its objective was to train Ethiopians for occupations in the commercial sector of the nation following the five years of Italian occupation. For the first fifteen years of its existence, however, the institution was nomadic and continuously in search of students. Recruitment in the early y
ears was hampered by both a limited supply of students and general scepticism about this new area of training. Indeed, the school's overall survival was never taken for granted during those formative years. In the 1970s the school’s transformation was driven by its quest to attain a "Junior College" standing. The school was brought under the Commission for Higher Education in 1979, at that time becoming one of the few tertiary-level educational institutions in Ethiopia. In 1982 the new field of specializations were introduced and students were trained in the field of Accounting, Secretarial Science, Banking and Finance, and Purchasing and Supply Management was added to the curriculum, followed by the inclusion of Personnel Management and Marketing Management in 1988-89. At present the School is part of the Addis Ababa University offering seven undergraduate and four graduate programs. The undergraduate programs of the school are Accounting and Finance, Administrative Services Management, Business Administration & Information Systems, Management, Economics, Marketing Management and Logistics and Supply Chain Management. The school also runs post graduate programs in Human Resource Management, Marketing Management, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, and Project Management. Besides, the school provides community services to the public in distance learning, short-term training, external examination and consultancy services. Since it has joined AAU, it has graduated more than 21, 456 students and alumni of over 80, 000 students since its establishment.
