Triple Accreditation - AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS: Differences in Accreditation

AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS: Differences in Accreditation

Each of the three institutions assesses a business school according to different criteria and scope:

1) Scope of accreditation (see diagram on the right)

AACSB has the broadest scope, as it accredits management and accounting programs at the entire university (e.g. management programs at the business school and the school of engineering) and grants university-wide accreditation.

AMBA has the most focused scope as it accredits only the business school's portfolios of MBA programs (full-time, part-time, executive, distance-learning), MBM programs (including MSc International Management) and DBA (also known as DMgt in China).

EQUIS's scope ranks in the middle, as it accredits the business school but not the university and not specific portfolios of programs.

2) Duration of the accreditation process

AACSB: 2–7 years

AMBA: 9–18 months

EQUIS: 2–3 years

3) Reaccreditation

AACSB: full re-accreditation every 5 or 10 years (the 10-year accreditation is being phased out)

AMBA: full re-accreditation every 3 or 5 years (1-year accreditation is a possible outcome of reaccreditation in exceptional circumstances)

EQUIS: full re-accreditation every 3 or 5 years

4) School audit team

AACSB's peer review team includes deans and business school administrators.

AMBA's assessment team includes deans, associate deans, program directors and one AMBA representative.

EQUIS's team includes only deans.

5) Evaluation report content

AACSB's report reflects compliance with the AACSB standards

AMBA's report includes compliance with criteria, commendations and recommendations

EQUIS's report reflects compliance with the EQUIS standards

6) Criteria/Standards size

AACSB: 77 pages for Business Accreditation; 36 pages for Accounting Accreditation

AMBA: 24 pages (9 pages for MBA; 9 pages for MBM; 6 pages for DBA)

EQUIS: 67 pages

7) Quantitative vs Qualitative

AACSB has more quantitative criteria (checklists)

AMBA has more qualitative criteria

EQUIS is in the middle (between AACSB and AMBA)

8) Internationalization

AACSB conducts the evaluation against the school's own mission, so AACSB has no internationalization requirement unless internationalization is part of the school's mission.

AMBA has internationalization criteria for research, curriculum and student enrolment. However, these are reviewed in a regional context for less internationalized regions (e.g. Latin America and Russia).

EQUIS has strict requirements on internationalization.

9) Faculty numbers

AACSB: prescribed faculty ratios (AQ/PQ ratio)

AMBA: no prescribed faculty-to-students ratio

EQUIS: prescribed minimum numbers of faculty

10) Visiting faculty

AACSB disapproves of heavy use of visiting faculty.

AMBA allows the visiting faculty model, as long as the visiting faculty are managed by the core faculty (and as long as the quality and course content is monitored).

EQUIS disapproves of heavy use of visiting faculty.

11) Research

AACSB requires research in line with the mission of the school.

AMBA requires research and publications in international refereed journals or proof of impactful research at national level.

EQUIS requires research with an international dimension.

12) Program-specific criteria

AACSB has no program-specific standards since it evaluates the entire university.

AMBA has program-specific criteria such as:

• at least 3 years of full-time work experience for all admitted MBA students;
• at least 500 contact hours (scheduled class hours) for a full-time MBA curriculum and a minimum of 120 contact hours for a distance-learning MBA;
• at least 20 students enrolled in an MBA program;

EQUIS has no program-specific standards since it evaluates the entire business school.

13) Accreditation fees

AACSB: 17,500 USD for initial business accreditation (or 26,800 USD for both business and accounting accreditation). In addition, an annual business accreditation fee is charged: 4,500 USD annually for a 5-year accreditation cycle or 2,500 USD annually for a 10-year accreditation cycle.

AMBA: 22,000 GBP for initial accreditation or 15,000 GBP for re-accreditation.

EQUIS: 38,675 EUR for a 5-year initial accreditation or re-accreditation and 32,725 EUR for a 3-year initial accreditation or re-accreditation.