Hello, Could somebody give me some information on the AACSB accreditation. Especially, the following would be of interest to me: -Does the AACSB accreditation encompass only master degrees or bachelors as well? -Is it normal to get accepted into an AACSB accrerdited master program with a bachelor earned from an institution that claims only regional accreditation? Or could one be faced with some difficulties in this case? -Anyways, is AACSB the highest standard in the (US)business world? Could it be safely assumed that if a school has AACSB accreditation, it's an above average school, in terms of quality? Thanks, Dennis Siemens
1. Bachelor's and master's degrees. 2. It is normal to be admitted to an AACSB-accredited master's with a bachelor's from a non-AACSB accredited school, but you can expect to take more foundation courses. Not all of your undergrad work may be recognized. 3. AACSB accreditation is the premier recognition for schools of business. However, it is unclear what advantage--if any--that has in the workplace. I would say that if you compared all the AACSB-accredited business schools and compared them to all the non-AACSB-accredited schools, the AACSB-accredited schools would be, on average, better. But there are some terrific non-AACSB-accredited schools out there. Also, AACSB has a tendency to squash innovation (in both course content, design, and deliver), so many good business schools choose not to go with AACSB. If you are concerned with how well your degree will be received in the business world upon graduation, be much more concerned about networking yourself into a job through your school connections. Be concerned about the school's national or regional reputation. Consider costs, your schedule, your other responsibilities, etc. I chose a non-AACSB school because it better fit my learning style and other responsibilities. I was admitted to several AACSB schools, but they just didn't meet my needs. Your needs could be entirely different, though. Good luck! Rich Douglas MBA, National University, 1985
I would not be concerned with AACSB accreditation as much as with the general reputation of the school. You will find that generally AACSB schools will have better reputations but as Rich indicated this is not always the case.
Tom - Checkout any of the rating lists you care to look at - USNews, Business Week, etc. I believe you'll find that all of the top 50 are AACSB. At one time there were a few that weren't - Vanderbilt, Tulane and Yale (if memory serves me correctly). All of these are now. Thanks - Andy
If I remember correctly, Anderson School of Management at UCLA is also not AACSB accredited, though they are with no doubt one of the best business schools in the U.S. Greets, t.
This may have been the case once, but the AACSB website lists UCLA as of today as being accredited. Thanks - Andy ------------------ Andy Borchers, DBA NSU (1996)
okay, my mistake. another question towards AACSB: how come that so many schools are MEMBERS of AACSB, but are not accredited?
Frankly, it isn't easy to get AACSB accreditation. They have a number of requirements - including % of courses taught by folks with PhD's and research requirements that many schools can't meet. Why be a member? AACSB has periodic meetings and research publications (including salary surveys) that are quite useful to member schools. Thanks - Andy ------------------ Andy Borchers, DBA NSU (1996)
Thank you for your answers. But, please, help me to clarify one point that I didn't quite understand from the conversation above: Do only MBA programs receive AASCB accreditation or business masters in general? By the way, Rich, as far as I know you've graduated from Regents/Excelsior. Did you apply with your Regents degree to the AASCB-accredited and not AASCB-accredited master programs? Thanks, Dennis Siemens
Yes. I was admitted to the non-AACSB-accredited Webster, Chapman, and National Universities, along with the AACSB-accredited University of San Diego and San Diego State University. I graduated from National with my MBA in 1985. San Diego State U.'s MBA program was a two-year curriculum The first year was all prelim courses for non-business school graduates. If you held a bachelor's from an AACSB-accredited program, SDSU waived the entire first year automatically, entering you straight into the second year. If you had a degree in business from a non-AACSB school, they evaluated your transcripts course-by-course. SDSU admitted me (probably on the strength of my GMAT; although I had a good GPA, most of my credits were through testing). When I got my evaluation back, however, they only gave me credit for one (of ten) course! And that was a course I didn't even take as an undergrad! I was ticked. Clearly they ignored all my testing credit and would require me to do the entire first year, effectively doubling my MBA program and requiring me to take a lot of classes in which I'd already demonstrated competency. I passed on that offer and went to National. I've never looked back. During my Air Force career, I was accepted for Air Force ROTC duty, which required a master's. Asked to list the schools I'd most want to go to to teach, I listed SDSU first. (This was in 1988, three years after taking my National MBA.) The Air Force gave me my choice, contingent upon SDSU's approval. They gave the okay, and I was an Assistant Professor at SDSU for four years. Just a little sweet irony. Rich Douglas
