What about IACBE accreditation?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by MichaelOliver, Feb 27, 2010.

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  1. What's the scoop on IACBE business accreditation. Is it as respected as the others? Or is it sort of an "accreditation light"?
     
  2. emmzee

    emmzee New Member

    My impression (as someone who's not really involved in the business world as such) is that it's not as prestigious as AACSB, but is more practical in nature, and they are willing to accredit smaller schools with programs more suited to working in the actual business world than working in academia.

    Generally it sounds like IACBE is better than not :) But for academia it's not really worth a lot.
     
  3. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    I get the impression it delivers what this kind of accreditation should: some assurance of quality.

    AACSB-accredited schools often expect applicants to their MBA programs to have done an AACSB-accredited bachelor's; if not, the applicants might have to go through further qualifications, like more course work. But even this is breaking down. Other than that, there doesn't seem to be much importance placed on it all outside the AACSB community. Well, for IACBE, it's even less so.
     
  4. Caulyne Barron

    Caulyne Barron New Member

    I believe they are still in the CHEA approval process, but I think you're going to see a lot of programs try and get get in before that is finalized. I manage accreditation for our organization, and I happen to have their accreditation manual right here. Looks pretty straightforward, but it was only placed on my task list last week to see if it is something we should pursue.

    There a lot more schools that are accredited through them than there were a year ago.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 13, 2018
  5. rcreighton

    rcreighton New Member

    IACBE Accreditation

    Ashford University is currently in the process of obtaining IACBE accreditation. In fact, the Program Director of Business and Professional Studies mentioned some time ago that AACSB is reserved for and restricted to research universities with large faculties focused on conducting research as opposed to teaching students. He went on further to mention that AU's mission is that of a teaching institution not of a research institution. Ashford will likely never seek or be accredited by AACSB. Ashford is, on the other hand, a candidate for accreditation by IACBE. He went on to say that IACBE's mission is well aligned with ours and we think such a relationship and attendant recognition will go a long way to advancing our business and professional programs.

    What does all of this mean? I guess it is open to interpretation but, I believe having the label of quality from some recognized organization may look better than none at all. The best thing that IACBE could do is to gain more name recognition for themselves and their members in the business world. Until that happens, they might remain as the ???? of accreditation.
     
  6. So IACBE really is the low end, then? Still much better than nothing though, I'm sure.

     
  7. friendorfoe

    friendorfoe Active Member

    Not low end, just different and not as well established. AACSB has been around a long time.
     
  8. CalDog

    CalDog New Member

    Anyone can start an accreditation agency -- in fact, diploma mills often establish phony accreditation agencies to "accredit" their schools. So a given accreditation agency may or may not be recognized or respected.

    In general, accreditation agencies are regarded as "real" if they are recognized by the US Dept. of Education (USDoE) and/or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). USDoE typically concerns itself only with "institutional" accreditors (i.e. accreditors that address entire institutions); they don't deal with "programmatic" accreditors (i.e. accreditors that address specific types of programs, like business or engineering). However, CHEA recognizes both institutional and programmatic accreditors.

    There are three primary business school accreditation agencies in the US: AACSB, ACBSP, and IACBE. The first two have CHEA recognition; this puts them a significant notch above IACBE, which lacks it. IACBE failed in a recent bid for CHEA recognition, but they have submitted a new application to CHEA as of January 2010. IACBE may yet succeed, but until they do, they won't be considered peers with ACBSP or AACSB. This is not to suggest that IACBE accreditation is worth nothing, just that it does not get as much respect or recognition as ACBSP or AACSB accreditation.

    AACSB is the most prestigious of the three; they generally accredit more selective, research-oriented business schools. ACBSP tends to accredit less selective, teaching-oriented business schools. IACBE also focuses on less selective, teaching-oriented business schools; my impression is that IACBE schools tend to be smaller than ACBSP schools,

    Business grads are generally not subject to professional licensing or regulation, so from a legal standpoint it generally doesn't matter whether a business degree has programmatic accreditation from AACSB, ACBSP, IACBE, or none at all. Accounting might be an exception; I think that some CPA boards may prefer AACSB accredited degrees.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 28, 2010
  9. Teacher Mark

    Teacher Mark New Member

    I used to teach at The Saigon International University, which now has the IACBE business accreditation. The fact that they accredited SIU tells me that their accreditation is delved out to anyone that has enough money, because SIU is a horrible school!
     
  10. friendorfoe

    friendorfoe Active Member

    Holy resurected thread Batman! Quick...someone shoot it in the head before it eats your brains!!!

    IACBE has in fact been coming along nicely as far as I can tell...and I generally keep an eye on this sort of thing as a rule. In my opinion WNMU is one of worst online programs around (or used to be) yet they are regionally accredited. Accreditation is no accounting of taste I guess.
     
  11. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Didn't IACBE get its CHEA recognition some time recently?
     
  12. CalDog

    CalDog New Member

    They succeeded in January 2011. IACBE is now listed alongside AACSB and ACBSP at CHEA.org.

    So there are now three different CHEA-recognized accreditors of business programs. In case you are wondering what the differences might be, I have posted the official "CHEA Recognized Scope of Accreditation" for each accreditor:

    That should clear it up.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 16, 2012
  13. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    IACBE and ACBSP were created by the same individual--John Green. I presented at IACBE two years ago and he stated that ACBSP was created first as an alternative to AACSB, whose accreditation process focused upon the scholarly productivity of the faculty and focused little on the curriculum and learning outcomes of the students. Also, only slightly above 10% of all business schools were AACSB accredited at the time. According to Mr. Green, when the ACBSP started going in a direction away from student learning outcomes, he created the IACBE a decade later. We just have an accreditation visit by IACBE and I can attest to the fact that, while they were concerned about what the faculty were doing, they were much more concerned about what the students and the educational program was doing.

    I will be presenting at the IACBE confernce this week.
     

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