AACSB International Standards – Revised February 14, 2001
Accreditation Standards
AACSB International accreditation assures quality and promotes excellence and continuous improvement in undergraduate and graduate education for business administration and accounting.
AACSB International was founded in 1916 and began its accreditation function with the adoption of the first standards in 1919. Additional standards for programs in accountancy were adopted in 1980. AACSB International members approved mission-linked accreditation standards and the peer review process in 1991. In 2003, members approved a revised set of standards that are relevant and applicable to all business programs globally and which support and encourage excellence in management education worldwide.
Accreditationis a process of voluntary, non-governmental review of educational institutions and programs. Institutional accreditation reviews entire colleges and universities. Specialized agencies award accreditation for professional programs and academic units in particular fields of study. As a specialized agency, AACSB International grants accreditation for undergraduate and graduate business administrationand accounting programs.
Any appropriately authorized collegiate institution offering degrees in business administration and accounting may volunteer for AACSB International accreditation review.
C.1 CURRICULUM CONTENT
C.1.1 Perspectives: Undergraduate and MBA
C.1.1: Both undergraduate and MBA curricula should provide an understanding of perspectives that form the context for business.Coverage should include:
• ethical and global issues,
• the influence of political, social, legal and regulatory, environmental and technological issues, and
• the impact of demographic diversity on organizations.
INTERPRETATION: The perspectives indicated above might be addressed via individual courses with titles that explicitly identify the perspective being treated. However, itis not the intent of this standard to require a separate course for any one or for any combination of these perspectives. Schools may approach any or all of these topics by interweaving them throughout other required curricular elements.
C.1.2 Undergraduate
C.1.2.a: Each undergraduate curriculum should have a general education component that normally comprises at least 50 percent of the student’sfour-year program.
INTERPRETATION: The general education component for business students should be consistent with the general education required of all students at the institution and should reflect the institution’s mission. Up to nine semester hours of economics and up to six semester hours of statistics may be counted as part of the general education curriculum.
The general educationcomponent will normally be expected to constitute 33 percent of a three-year undergraduate program in a culture with a 13-year pre-collegiate education or 50 percent of a four-year undergraduate program that follows 12 years of pre-collegiate education.
C.1.2.b: The curriculum should include foundation knowledge for business in the following areas:
• accounting,
• behavioral science,
•economics, and
• Mathematics and statistics.
C.1.2.c: The business curriculum should include written and oral communication as an important characteristic.
C.1.2.d: The school should state additional requirements for completion of the undergraduate business degree consistent with its mission. Majors or specializations should be consistent with the institutional mission and the availabilityof resources.
INTERPRETATION: Normally, undergraduate programs in business require work in those academic areas necessary for an appropriate foundation of descriptive and analytical approaches to the study of communications, humanities, natural sciences, accounting, economics, behavioral sciences, and mathematics/statistics. The school’s additional requirements for the business degree (C.1.2.d)…