Affirming Quality, Representing Global Excellence--AACSB International Announces Sixteen Schools to Earn Business Accreditation

TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 10, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AACSB International (AACSB) announced today that Chang Gung University (Chinese Taipei), Chung Hua University (Chinese Taipei), ISCTE Business School (Portugal), Kingston University (United Kingdom), King Saud University (Saudi Arabia), MCI Management Center Innsbruck (Austria), Nankai University (China), Northeastern Illinois University (United States), Nottingham Trent University (United Kingdom), Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (Japan), Universiti Utara Malaysia (Malaysia), the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg (Sweden), the University of International Business and Economics (China), the University of Newcastle (Australia), the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) at the University of Pretoria (South Africa), and XLRI Jamshedpur (India) have earned accreditation in business.

Founded in 1916, AACSB is the longest-serving global accrediting body for business schools that offer undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in business and accounting. Through today's ratification, there are a total of 777 institutions across 52 countries and territories—a growth of one country, Bahrain—that have earned AACSB Accreditation in business. Similarly, 185 institutions maintain an additional specialized AACSB Accreditation for their accounting programs.

"AACSB's accreditation standards are designed to help schools discover—and deliver on—their differentiated mission, so they can foster meaningful change through engagement, innovation, and impact," said Robert D. Reid, executive vice president and chief accreditation officer of AACSB International. "We commend each of the sixteen schools for their exemplary work, and thank them for their dedication to academic excellence in business education."

Achieving accreditation is a process of rigorous internal review, engagement with an AACSB assigned mentor, and peer review. During the multi-year process, the school focuses on developing and implementing a plan to align with AACSB's accreditation standards. These standards require excellence in areas relating to strategic management and innovation; student, faculty, and staff as active participants; learning and teaching; and academic and professional engagement.

"AACSB accreditation is a globally recognized standard for the highest-quality in business education," continued Reid. "Across this multi-year review process, schools must not only meet the initial standards of excellence, but they must demonstrate their on-going commitment to quality and distinction by participating a continuous improvement review process every five years."

For more detailed information about AACSB Accreditation, please visit www.aacsb.edu/accreditation.

About AACSB International
As the world's largest business education network connecting academe with business, AACSB provides business education intelligence, quality assurance, and professional development services to more than 1,500 member organizations across 91 countries and territories. Founded in 1916, AACSB Accreditation is the highest standard of quality in business education, with over 760 business schools accredited worldwide. AACSB's global headquarters is located in Tampa, Florida, USA; its Asia Pacific headquarters is located in Singapore; and its Europe, Middle East, and Africa headquarters is located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.aacsb.edu.

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SOURCE AACSB International