Summer schools are educational courses that focus on various subjects and are limited in time. Thus summer schools are an ideal opportunity for students and doctoral students to familiarise themselves with subjects in addition to the curriculum or to go into curricular subjects in more detail. However, summer schools do not award qualified university degrees, though some of them issue certificates.

Students of all academic levels of the University of St.Gallen are able to attend summer schools of other universities and have the credits thus acquired credited to their degree course. A maximum of eight credits can be credited per academic level, with a summer school course being awarded a maximum of four credits. Crediting is only possible in independent electives and contextual studies, and only if the Crediting Office of the University of St.Gallen has recognised the credits in advance.

The University of St.Gallen has been offering an English-language summer school since 2013: the Global School in Empirical Research Methods (GSERM). This summer school on empirical research methods, which takes place in June every year, offers almost 30 courses within a period of three weeks. Participants have the possibility of attending one course a week. Courses are aimed at doctoral students and practitioners who would like to use qualitative or quantitative research methods in research and practice. A cultural social programme rounds off the HSG’s summer school. In 2017, almost 290 participants from 40 nations attended the Global School in Empirical Research Methods (GSERM) in St.Gallen. Since 2016, there has been an offshoot in Norway: GSERM Oslo. In August 2017, a further offshoot with a smaller range of courses will be launched:  GSERM Ljubljana (Slovenia).