Triple accreditation

Triple accreditation (or Triple Crown accreditation) is the accreditation awarded to 74 business schools worldwide by the three largest and most influential business school accreditation associations:

• AACSB - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (based in Tampa, Florida, with an Asia office in Singapore)

Triple-accredited schools.

European countries with triple-accredited schools.

• AMBA - The Association of MBAs (based in London)
• EQUIS - European Quality Improvement System (based in Brussels)

Number of schools with single, double and triple (AACSB-AMBA-EQUIS) accreditation outside North America.

Of the 13,670 schools offering business degree programs worldwide, only 69 have triple accreditation as of April 2016. The diagram on the right shows the 54 triple-accredited schools outside of North America as of March 2012. Another two triple-accredited schools used to be found in Canada, bringing the worldwide total to 56 in 2012. For AACSB, the diagram interpretation is as follows: 53 schools are accredited only by AACSB; a further 7 are accredited by AACSB and AMBA; another 23 are accredited by AACSB and EQUIS; and 54 are accredited by all three accrediting bodies (outside of North America).

A major reason for the small number of triple-accredited institutions in the world is the requirement of the Association of MBAs that AMBA-accredited business schools should only admit MBA applicants with at least three years of full-time post-graduation work experience. Some analysts claim that most top US business schools cannot meet this criterion as they sometimes (though rarely) admit applicants with only a bachelor's degree and little or no work experience. They claim that it is why triple-crown accreditation is pursued primarily by European institutions. However, it is not the case when some (former) triple accredited institutes, City University of Hong Kong for example, only require applicants having "relevant work experience is desirable (though not specifically required)".

Differences in accreditation

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

Scope of business school accreditation for AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA

• Scope of accreditation

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.

• Duration of the accreditation process

AACSB: 2–7 years

AMBA: 9–18 months

EQUIS: 2–3 years

• 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

• 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.

• 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

• 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

• Quantitative vs Qualitative

AACSB has more quantitative criteria (checklists)

AMBA has more qualitative criteria

EQUIS is in the middle (between AACSB and AMBA)

• 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.

• Faculty numbers

AACSB: prescribed faculty ratios (AQ/PQ ratio)

AMBA: no prescribed faculty-to-students ratio

EQUIS: prescribed minimum numbers of faculty

Feb 2014 Survey Results among MBA applicants, in response to the question: "Which of the following accreditations is/was most important to you when choosing a business school?"

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

Schools

There are 68 triple-accredited schools based in 28 countries and territories as of November 2012:

Argentina

• IAE Universidad Austral, Buenos Aires

Australia

• QUT Graduate School of Business, Queensland University of Technology
• Monash University

Austria

• Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna

Belgium

• Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School, Ghent

Brazil

• EAESP - Fundação Getúlio Vargas, São Paulo

Canada

• HEC Montreal, Montreal
• Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, Ottawa

China

• School of Business, Hong Kong Baptist University
• Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai
• Sun Yat-sen Business School, Sun Yat-sen University
• Zhejiang University

Colombia

• Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Administración, Bogota

Denmark

• Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen
• Aarhus University BSS, Aarhus

Egypt

• American University in Cairo, Cairo.

Finland

• Aalto University School of Business, Helsinki
• Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki and Vaasa

France

• Audencia Nantes, Nantes
• EDHEC (École des hautes études commerciales du nord), Lille & Nice
• EMLYON Business School, Lyon
• ESC Rennes School of Business, Rennes
• ESCP-Europe (École supérieure de commerce de Paris — Europe), Paris
• Grenoble School of Management, Grenoble
• HEC Paris (Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales), Paris
• INSEAD (Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires), Fontainebleau & Singapore
• KEDGE Business School, Bordeaux and Marseille
• NEOMA Business School, Rouen and Reims
• Toulouse Business School, Toulouse

Germany

• ESCP Europe, Berlin
• European School of Management and Technology, Berlin
• Mannheim Business School, Mannheim

India

• Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Kolkata

Ireland

• University College Dublin, Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business/UCD Quinn School of Business, Dublin

Italy

• ESCP Europe, Turin
• SDA Bocconi School of Management, Milan

Japan

• Nagoya University of Commerce and Business

Mexico

• EGADE Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey and Mexico City.
• Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, Mexico City.

The Netherlands

• Maastricht University, School of Business and Economics, Maastricht
• Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam

New Zealand

• University of Auckland Business School, Auckland
• University of Waikato Faculty of Management, Hamilton
• Victoria University of Wellington, Victoria Business School, Wellington

Norway

• BI Norwegian Business School

Peru

• CENTRUM Católica, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima

Poland

• Kozminski University, Warsaw

Portugal

• CATÓLICA-LISBON, School of Business & Economics, Lisbon
• Nova School of Business and Economics, Lisbon

South Africa

• University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, Cape Town
• University of Stellenbosch Business School, Cape Town

Spain

• ESADE Business School and ESADE University Faculties, Barcelona
• ESCP Europe, Madrid
• IE Business School, Madrid
• IESE Barcelona

Switzerland

• IMD Lausanne

UK

• Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, Glasgow
• Ashridge Business School, Berkhamsted
• Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham
• Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, Birmingham
• Bradford University School of Management, University of Bradford, Bradford
• Cass Business School, City University London, London
• Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield University, Bedfordshire
• Durham University Business School, Durham University, Durham
• Hull University Business School, University of Hull, Hull
• University of Edinburgh Business School, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh
• ESCP Europe, London
• Henley Business School, University of Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Reading
• Imperial College Business School, London
• Kingston Business School, Kingston University, London
• Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster University, Lancaster
• Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, Leeds
• London Business School, London
• Loughborough University School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University, Loughborough
• Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester
• Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne
• Open University Business School
• University of Sheffield Management School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield
• Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
• Warwick Business School, University of Warwick

Venezuela

• IESA, Caracas

Top schools without triple accreditation

Many of the world's top business schools are not triple-accredited, while several schools that appear low in the rankings have triple accreditation.

One reason for this is that some of the top business schools choose not to incur the financial cost of international accreditation and rely only on accreditation by their national accrediting body (usually the country's education ministry).

Another reason is that the top schools in some regions do not meet one or more of the detailed criteria of the accrediting institutions and choose not to amend their policy. Notable examples are all top US business schools: Harvard Business School, Wharton, Stanford GSB, Columbia Business School, Chicago Booth, etc., which do not meet AMBA's mandatory three-year student-work-experience requirement for all MBA applicants.

A third reason is that the 509 schools that have obtained AACSB accreditation in the US and Canada (either via the standard accreditation process or via the granting of accreditation based on their reputation as top schools) do not look outside of North America for further validation, such as through European or British accreditation.

See also

• List of AMBA-accredited institutions
• List of EQUIS accredited institutions