AACSB Business School Graduates Are Workforce Ready

If you’re uncertain about the value of a business degree today and, furthermore, not sure where you should begin your business school search, some recent statistics on graduates of AACSB-accredited business schools may help inform your decision.

Information collected independently by GMAC^®, NASBA, and AACSB International reveals high employability, degree satisfaction, and career advancement rates among alumni of AACSB-accredited institutions. Consider, for example, the fact that four out of five alumni said their graduate management education contributed to their improved “competiveness, proactiveness, innovativeness, and creativity.” And further, nine out of 10 alumni say their education increased their earning power and they’re satisfied with their current earnings. Given a recent Deloitte survey that found alarming job dissatisfaction among millennials, these numbers pack a decidedly positive punch in the face of a difficult workforce problem today.

In the same GMAC^® survey, the vast majority of respondents reported that they felt not only prepared for the employment challenges ahead of them but that they had a competitive advantage going onto the job market. Considering that today’s employment landscape requires a broader skill set than ever before, the ability to constantly adapt to change, and an increasingly global awareness, those are strong sentiments!

But graduates of AACSB-accredited business schools are not just ready to join the workforce; many of them have taken the lead in it. In looking at the Financial Times’ analysis of where 72 FT500 chief executives earned their MBA degrees, we found that 95 percent of degree holders attended AACSB-accredited schools. These are some of the top leaders of global companies including Coca-Cola, Boeing, Google, Anheuser-Busch, Apple, and JPMorgan Chase, just to name a few.

And with the financial industry nearing the top of Forbes’ list of “Industries Hiring the Most College of Grads in 2017,” it’s good to know that graduates from AACSB-accredited business schools were found to have on average higher pass rates on the CPA exam in the U.S. than test-takers who graduated from other institutions, according to NASBA. Because AACSB has specialized accreditation standards for accounting degrees, it’s not surprising that these grads not only make up the majority of CPA exam takers but also perform exceedingly well on the exam.

Choosing a business degree—and subsequently a career path—to pursue can be a daunting task. In addition to considering these highlights of graduates from AACSB-accredited schools, we also encourage prospective business school students to thoroughly research schools and programs, seek advice from a variety of sources, and think about their individual motivations and ideas about success as part of the decision-making process.