The article analyses the concept of "business education" during its formation period in independent Ukraine for the purpose of establishing a scientifically grounded definition. The availability of scientific research on the problem of business education in economics or management and their actual lack in pedagogy is noted. The traditional and modern models of business education in the world practice are analyzed, which also affects the definition of the concept. The conclusion that the definition of business education depends on the basic scientific approaches is made. The approaches are: andragogical (business education is considered as a necessary component of lifelong learning), institutional (this type of educational services is defined as a social educational institution with a different ratio of formal and informal components depending on a specific public demand), pedagogical (business education is defined as a type of educational services and economic education provided under educational programmes (formal model) or without relevant licensed educational programmes (non-formal model) in a traditional or innovative form). The article analyses the specifics of the interpretation of the concept of business education within different scientific paradigms – axiological (business education as a system of personal values), procedural (as a learning process in a formal or informal model), target (as a result of obtaining a set of knowledge, skills and soft skills in the learning process), systemic (as a systemic formation with a corresponding set of components). The definition of business education is based on scientific definitions of the concept of education, highlighting the specific properties of business as a scope of knowledge, skills and personal characteristics. On the basis of the carried out categorical and conceptual analysis, the author formulates a definition of business education as a process and result of providing educational services of formal or non-formal type (in the form of a traditional or modern model) within specially created educational institutions under licensed foreign or national educational programs, with the corresponding educational degrees recognized by Ukraine.