LONDON, January 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Hult, the multinational business school well-known for its annual million-dollar competition among students to find the best plan for a chosen charity, has launched a degree in the emerging academic discipline of using business solutions to solve social problems.

Students doing Hult's Master in Social Entrepreneurship will spend part of their one-year degree grappling with real-world challenges set for them by charities, governments and non-profit organizations, which have so far defied resolution. Hult's hallmark is a greater emphasis on solving true-to-life problems than other top business schools.

Dr. Stephen Hodges, President of Hult International Business School, said: "We hope many Hult graduates in this program will set up their own charities and non-profits, toplay their part in changing the world. Graduates in Social Entrepreneurship at Hult and other business schools will be part of an enlightened elite, that will in the future govern their countries and take the helm at multinational organizations."

Hult is already well-known in the field of social entrepreneurship for its annual Hult Global Case Challenge ( http://www.hultglobalcasechallenge.com/), which brings together the world's top business schools to find the best solution to a chosen non-profit's problem. The 2011 beneficiary, Water.org, co-founded by Hollywood actor Matt Damon, will receive US$1 million to help it develop its core mission of providing clean water in poor countries.

Hult's Master in Social Entrepreneurship is based on the principle that social problems can be tackled in similar ways to business problems - though it also sets out the special skills that social entrepreneurs will need.

Consequently, the course combines conventional MBA material such as management accounting, with subjects such as the economics of development. It also asks tough questions about global society. These include whether some countries' development is hampered by poor government, or because they are exploited by more powerful players in the world economy.

The course, which will be based at Hult's London campus, begins in September 2011. The next application deadline is January 30, 2011 (http://www.hult.edu/lp/v07/master-social-entrepreneurship).