Considered the "hallmark of excellence in business education," AACSB accreditation is earned by less than five percent of the world's business programs.
Founded in 1916, AACSB International is the longest serving global accrediting body for business schools that offer undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees in business and accounting.
AACSB accreditation is the hallmark of excellence in business education, and has been earned by less than five percent of the world’s business programs. Today, there are 694 business schools in 45 countries and territories that maintain AACSB accreditation.
“Extension of accreditation by AACSB is yet another validation that we provide a high-quality business education,” said Raghu Tadepalli, dean of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business. “Through their teaching, research and service, our faculty create a wonderful learning environment for our students, and this came through loud and clear from an AACSB reaccreditation team so impressed during its campus visit that members happily acknowledged not having any recommendations for improvement.
“We take pride in our mission to be a leader in transformative business education. The AACSB team recognized that Elon University is indeed setting the highest standards for educating tomorrow’s corporate and financial leaders.”
Achieving accreditation is a process of rigorous internal review, evaluation, and adjustment and can take several years to complete. During these years, the school develops and implements a plan to meet AACSB’s accreditation standards, which require a high quality teaching environment, innovative programming, and active engagement with industry. In addition, as required by the AACSB standards, all accredited schools must go through a continuous improvement peer review process every five years in order to retain their accreditation.
To realize accounting accreditation, an institution must first earn AACSB business accreditation. Then, in addition to developing and implementing a mission-driven plan to satisfy the business accreditation quality standards, accounting accreditation requires the satisfaction of an additional set of standards that are specific to the discipline and profession of accounting.
“It takes a great deal of commitment and determination to earn and maintain AACSB accreditation,” said Robert D. Reid, executive vice president and chief accreditation officer of AACSB International. “Business schools must not only meet specific standards of excellence, but their deans, faculty, and professional staff must make a commitment to ongoing continuous improvement to ensure that the institution will continue to deliver the highest quality of education to students.”
AACSB’s mission is to advance quality management education worldwide through accreditation, thought leadership, and value-added services. As the premier accreditation body for institutions offering undergraduate, master’s, and doctorate degrees in business and accounting, the association also conducts a wide array of conferences and seminar programs at locations throughout the world.