I'm sure we're all familiar with regional accrediting bodies like Middle States etc. How important is it to look at the business school accrediting agencies like AACSB, and ACBSP, ACSB? What do these initials mean and what is the difference between them? Is there an ACSB accrediting body?
You might want to start out by using the search function of this forum, where you should find more than a few postings about these organizations over the past six months.
Tin - John's right about searching. The quick answer: AACSB (American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business) is the gold standard in business school accreditation. There are 350 or schools that are so accredited - they represent the top tier. ACBSP (Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs) and IACBE (International something) are a second tier. All schools in the U.S. that are accredited by these three groups are also regionally accredited. Note that ACBSP has now been recognized by CHEA (according to their website). Do any of these matter? I argue they do. Given a choice of two institutions that appear otherwise equal - I'd go with the AACSB (especially), ACBSP or IACBE school over one that isn't professionally accredited. Why? The standards that schools have to live up to in order to be accredited make for better business education. Thanks - Andy ------------------ Andy Borchers, DBA NSU (1996)
