AACSB Standards: Requirements For AACSB Accreditation

AACSB business schools must meet a strict set of requirements, or AACSB standards, to achieve accreditation. Some of these factors can be technical, like where each business degree program is located relative to the institution seeking accreditation, while others can be ethical, like whether or not the business school provides a suitable environment for cultural diversity. Regardless of which standard is most important to you, the fact holds true that AACSB standards are thorough, numerous, and not easy to meet. This is why business schools that have achieved AACSB accreditation are so coveted and why graduates of AACSB schools have a competitive advantage in the job market.

AACSB Standards for Strategic Managment

There are 21 AACSB standards that a business school must meet to achieve accreditation. These standards are meant to ensure that a school focuses its resources toward a specific mission statement and helps to define the overall goals that should be in that mission statement. Standards include the following:

• The school must have a published mission statement that provides direction for making decisions while taking all viewpoints into account and is reviewed periodically and revised when needed.
• The mission must include a focus on producing quality intellectual contributions that advance business and management theory, practice, and learning.
• The mission statement must specify the student populations that the school intends to serve.
• The school must list action items that are a high priority for continuous improvement efforts.
• The school must have the financial resources available to achieve their mission statement and action items.
• Admission policies must be clear and consistent with the business school's mission.
• The school must have academic standards and retention practices which lead to high quality graduates and are consistent with the school's mission.
• The school must have a support staff that is sufficient enough to ensure stability and ongoing quality improvement for student activities which reflect the school's mission and programs.
• The school must have a faculty that is sufficient enough to ensure ongoing stability and improvement for all students and students should be able to receive instruction from qualified staff with ease.
• The school must have a clearly defined process to evaluate faculty members with regards to their contribution to the school's mission statement and all faculty must meet initial qualifications that ensure they have the expertise to accomplish the mission statement.
• The school must also have a documented process in place that focuses on supporting faculty and helping them grow in ways that are consistent with the school's mission.
• Faculty, staff, and administration together share the responsibility to ensure there is adequate time devoted to learning, a promising student to faculty ratio exists, student achievement and instructional effectiveness is evaluated, and there is a goal of continuous improvement.
• Faculty members must operate with integrity, keep their knowledge current, actively involve students, encourage collaboration, and ensure frequent and prompt feedback of student performance.
• Students must operate with integrity, apply proper attention and dedication, maintain engagement when challenged, contribute to the learning of others, and perform to the standards set by the faculty.
• The school must use a systematic and well-documented process to develop and manage all curricula.
• The school must define learning goals for each undergraduate degree program.
• All Bachelor's or undergraduate degree programs must provide sufficient time to complete a degree, sufficient content coverage, content coverage, student effort, and student to faculty interaction.
• The school must define learning goals for each Master's degree program.
• Students attending a Master's degree program at an AACSB accredited school must prove a history of experience or applicable knowledge for the degree being sought.
• All Master's level degree programs must provide sufficient time to complete a degree, sufficient content coverage, content coverage, student effort, and student to faculty interaction.
• Doctoral programs must include the acquisition of advanced knowledge in areas of specialization, the development of advanced practice, explicit attention to each specialization, preparation for students, and intellectual contribution.

AACSB Standards set demanding but realistic goals, challenge educators to consistently grow and evolve, and help guide the educational institution toward continuous improvement. Standards are set to help guide the collegiate setting put forth by the educational institution. AACSB expects that faculty and staff resources are sufficient to carry out all functions of business education and to support quality programs for both students and faculty alike. By providing a focused list of standards, AACSB helps to accomplish its goals and helps institutions meet all expectations.