MBA Accreditation provides the guideline for picking some of the best Business Schools in the world, though not necessarily a criteria for selection.  There are three major accreditation bodies for MBA Programs: AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB. 

These top three accreditation bodies are based out of Europe, the U.K., and the USA, respectively.

What is a Business School Accreditation?

Accreditation is a process of certifying the competency and quality of the business school. It is a voluntary process and Business schools request accreditation bodies to initiate the process. 

Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) started out as an accreditation body for U.S. and Canada. Now it accredits Business Schools outside North America. AACSB accredits MBA courses based on the Business school’s ability to achieve excellence and continuous improvement.

European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) is an accreditation system run by European Fund for Management Development (EFMD), based in Brussels, Belgium. Although EQUIS has a focus on Business schools in Europe, it is accrediting Business schools outside Europe.  In addition to MBA programs, EQUIS accreditations are based on all activities like executive education, research and e-learning facilities provided by the school.

Association of MBAs (AMBA), based in the U.K., accredits individual MBA programs. Factors like quality of students, curriculum, faculty and the resources available with Business schools to achieve the purpose of an MBA are taken into consideration for the accreditation.

What is the difference between an ‘Accredited member’ and a ‘Member of an Accreditation body’?

MBA candidates should be very careful with schools claiming to be members of an accreditation body. It is not the same as an ‘Accredited Member.’ Business schools can become members of an accreditation body without initiating an accreditation process. 

Is Accreditation foolproof?

Accreditation set standards for evaluating the quality of education. But there are other factors like the culture of the school and the friends that you make which cannot be quantified with standards and processes. The non-faculty staff also plays a big role in your MBA journey.

The Criteria for Accreditation varies between the accrediting bodies but in general, these organizations take into consideration: Quality of the Academic Program, Faculty and Students. It also looks at the available financial resources to implement technical and logistic support for the program.

What is a Triple Accreditation

Some of the top Business Schools are triple accredited but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are better than single accredited or double accredited Business Schools. A triple accredited Business School is accredited by AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB.

Why are Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, and other M7 schools not AMBA accredited?

If you look at the Business School accreditation below, you will notice that most of the Business Schools in U.S. are only accredited by AACSB.  In fact, some of the top Business Schools like Harvard, Stanford, Wharton and Columbia are only AACSB accredited. 

One strict guideline for AMBA Accreditation might be the reason. 

According to AMBA, Business Schools should only select candidates with a minimum of three years of work experience. 

Most top Business Schools select some students with less than three years of experience and, therefore, do not qualify. 

As far as EQUIS is concerned, most Business Schools in U.S. does not consider it as a requirement to validate their quality with a European Accrediting body (EQUIS is run by EFMD, a European accreditation body).

So when it comes to top U.S. Business Schools, accreditation play very little role in differentiating one from the other. 

Nevertheless, an accredited Business School is better than a non-accredited one, unless the later is a new school waiting out to meet the minimum years of existence criteria, which is three years.

Trends in Accreditation – M7 vs. European vs. Asian Schools

The table presents an overview of the top 100 MBA programs, ranked according to the Financial Times (F.T.) MBA Rankings and U.S. News rankings. 

A prominent feature of this data is the overwhelming presence of AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accreditation, which is held by 82 of the institutions listed. Not a surprise as the world’s top schools are in the U.S.

Related Read: Why U.S. Schools dominate MBA rankings despite H1B

Schools with triple accreditation -  AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System), and AMBA (Association of MBAs)—include London Business School, INSEAD, HEC Paris, SDA Bocconi, I.E. Business School, ESADE, IMD, and Warwick Business School – all in Europe and the U.K. 

Among Asian schools, Indian schools, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore and IIM Ahmedabad, were the two schools along with Canada’s McGill University: Desautels to earn the unique ‘EQUIS’ only accreditation.

Top 100 MBA - Accreditation