TAMPA, FL (April 6, 2009) - AACSB International announced today that
American University of Beirut (AUB) has earned accreditation for its
business school. AUB is the first university in Lebanon to earn accreditation from AACSB International. Founded in 1916,
AACSB International is the longest serving global accrediting body for business schools that offer undergraduate, master's,
and doctoral degrees in business and accounting.
"AACSB congratulates the American University of Beirut and Dean George Najjar on becoming the first academic institution
in Lebanon to achieve accreditation, and welcomes them into the AACSB family of internationally accredited business schools," said
John J. Fernandes, president and chief executive officer of AACSB International. "AACSB accreditation represents the highest
achievement for an educational institution that awards business degrees. Dean Najjar and the faculty, directors, and administrative
staff of AUB are to be commended for their role in earning initial accreditation."
AACSB accreditation is the hallmark of excellence in business education and has been earned by less than five percent of the world's
business schools. Today, there are 567 business schools
in 33 countries that maintain AACSB accreditation. Similarly, 171 institutions now maintain an additional specialized AACSB
accreditation for their accounting programs.
Achieving accreditation is a process of rigorous internal review, evaluation, and adjustment and can take several years to complete.
During these years, the school develops and implements a plan to meet the
21 AACSB standards requiring a high quality teaching environment, a commitment to continuous improvement, and curricula responsive
to the needs of business.
"It takes a great deal of self evaluation and determination to earn AACSB accreditation, and I commend
the American University in Beirut for its dedication to management education," said Jerry Trapnell, chief accreditation officer of AACSB
International. "Schools not only must meet specific standards of excellence, but their deans, faculties and staffs make a commitment to
ongoing improvement to ensure that the institution will continue to deliver high quality education to students."
AACSB International also announced that BEM Bordeaux Management School
(France), Durham University (United Kingdom),
Georgia Southwestern State University (USA), Le Moyne College (USA),
Robert Morris University (USA),
Simmons College (USA), and SungKyunKwan
University (South Korea) earned initial accreditation in business, and Gonzaga University
(USA), Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi (USA) and
Western Kentucky University (USA) earned AACSB accreditation in accounting. Additionally,
57 institutions have maintained their accreditation in business and 14 have maintained their accreditation in accounting. As required by
AACSB standards, all accredited schools must go through a peer review every five years in order to maintain their accreditation.
About AACSB International
AACSB International is an association of more than 1,100 educational
institutions, businesses and other organizations in 70 countries that are
dedicated to the advancement of management education worldwide. In addition to
service as the premier accreditation body for institutions offering
undergraduate, master's and doctoral degrees in business and accounting,
the association also conducts a wide array of conferences and seminar programs at various location around the world.
Through BestBizSchools.com, AACSB provides a global resource center for prospective business students.
www.aacsb.edu
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