TAMPA, FL (April 6, 2009) - AACSB International announced today that
Durham University has earned accreditation for its business school. 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 Durham University and Dean Rob Dixon on earning 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 Dixon and the faculty, directors, and administrative staff of Durham 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 Durham University 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 American University of Beirut (AUB) (Lebanon), BEM Bordeaux Management School (France),
Georgia Southwestern State University (USA),
Le Moyne College (USA),
Robert Morris University (USA),
Simmons College (USA), and
SungKyunKwan University (South Korea) earned
AACSB 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, business 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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