October/November 2010
Management Education News from AACSB International
New Data Explores the Seven Most Popular Program Disciplines at AACSB-Accredited Schools
2009–10 AACSB Business School Questionnaire
552 AACSB-Accredited Schools and Academic Units
Each year, as AACSB International receives its annual Business School Questionnaire (BSQ) data, the relative popularity of different field/disciplines for programs reported is explored. The 2009–10 data is now available to AACSB members and it displays strong results for disciplines. The following charts include compiled percentages for the seven most popular program disciplines for the 552 AACSB-accredited schools that participated in the most recent BSQ.
As the latest field/discipline data was examined, general business has remained very popular among the programs offered at AACSB-accredited schools. General business represented the largest share of programs overall, as well as the largest share of programs at the undergraduate and master’s level. This is no surprise, as many schools offer programs that have unique concentrations and/or semi-specific coursework that award degrees in business administration (or general business).
In exploring undergraduate program data, general business and management were the most offered at AACSB-accredited schools. The third most popular discipline was accounting—somewhat surprising as careers, starting salaries, and demands for individuals with accounting degrees are increasing quickly worldwide. At the master’s level, there was a large gap in the number of general business and more specialized program offerings. This is obviously due to the overwhelming popularity of the MBA program—which is categorized as a general business offering at the master’s level. As far as for the specialized programs reported, management, accounting, finance, and marketing followed in popularity among AACSB-accredited schools. At the doctoral level, management was the most popular discipline reported. The other most offered doctorate program disciplines included general business, finance, marketing, accounting, economics, and CIS/MIS. To to view full charts visit: www.aacsb.edu/publications/enewsline/datadirect.asp.
To learn more about how to access AACSB data, visit DataDirect: www.aacsb.edu/datadirect. The database is available to AACSB members with enhanced access through subscriptions.