Future business students now have a slightly better selection when it comes to picking a college or university in the Lone Star State. The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business has just announced that two Texas college business programs have received the honor of being AACSB Accredited. West Texas A&M and University of Texas at Brownsville have met the high standards required to be recognized as an elite business school. Less than 5% of all business programs internationally and 30% domestically have received AACSB Accreditation.
John J. Fernandes, president and chief executive officer of AACSB International congratulated all the newest accredited schools, which also included Chonnam National University (South Korea), Dongguk University (South Korea), Istanbul University (Turkey), Peking University (China), Providence College (US-Rhode Island) and Universiti Putra Malaysia (Malaysia). “AACSB Accreditation represents the highest achievement for an educational institution that awards business degrees.” There are now 655 business schools around the world that can carry the title of being accredited.
The accreditation application process can take years of planning and preparation. All applying schools must first be a member of the AACSB and already have a curriculum in place to provide a degree in either business or accounting. Once the application is submitted, the school’s program is evaluated to determine if the facility meets the requirements set by the association. A peer review team is created to analyze multiple aspects of the institution including curriculum, finance and moral integrity, as well as perform on site reviews. The team will decide whether to recommend, deny or defer accreditation. If approved, the institution will be AACSB Accredited and then be reviewed every 5 years to maintain the accredited status.