The idea of keeping the academy and the School of Transport Administration within one organisation – which had been ill-fated from the beginning – was abandoned as an when Karl E. Wild, architect and the Business Academy’s first director, stepped down on 1 January 1903.
The Cantonal Council’s official recommendation followed on 5 May 1903. The organisational separation of the two schools also lead to a change in their funding: the School of Transport Administration became cantonal institution (remaining under the supervision of the Department of Economics), whilst the Business Academy fell under the responsibility of the city of St. Gallen. In view of the subsequent funding regulations it is, however, worth noting that in the same year, an alternative was considered, namely, handing the School of Transport Administration over to the city whilst keeping the Business Academy in the hands of the canton; because, according to the reasoning at the time, 'it befits the state first and foremost to be responsible for the management of the higher institution and the cultivation of science and learning within the framework of the same'. In 1903, the School of Transport Administration moved into the Atlantic building, which had been acquired by the canton, while the Business Academy remained in the west wing of the cantonal grammar school at Burggraben.
By virtue of the statute of 24 December 1903, the academy was now placed under the control of a nine-member school council, comprising three representatives from the Commercial Directorate, municipal authorities, and the Industrial and the Commercial Associations. The new presidents had to be elected from the Commercial Directorate. This reorganisation of the academy in 1903 led to the establishment of a presidential office, which was filled by Professor Eduard Otto Schulze, a native of northern Germany.