Lancaster University’s Management School (LUMS) has been confirmed as a world leader after AACSB International, The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, awarded accreditation for the faculty’s high standards of business education and innovation last month.
Having initially been awarded with the accreditation in 2008, the review by AACSB is confirmation of Lancaster’s high standards and strong reputation in business amongst the academic community. The re-accreditation means Lancaster, ranked ninth in the UK by The Complete University Guide and 71st globally by the Financial Times for Business, sustains its triple accreditation from three world leading accreditation organizations for business (AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA) placing LUMS in the top two percent of business schools worldwide.
AACSB, established in 1916, is a global non-profit organization providing a network of business schools for the advancement of tertiary management education. With more than 1,350 members in 83 different countries, it recognizes excellence among its members by accrediting degree level institutions that meet its high standards in areas of innovation, participation, teaching and academic engagement amongst both undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
With less than five percent of the world’s 13,000 business programs earning AACSB accreditation, the award provides both prospective students and employers the opportunity to select courses and job-applicants respectively from institutions recognized for attaining high standards. Other business schools accredited by AACSB include Harvard (US), Stanford (US), IESE Business School (Spain) and The London Business School (UK) putting Lancaster alongside global leaders in business education and research.
On hearing the news, LUMS dean Professor Sue Cox expressed that this latest recognition would boost student employment prospects noting that “[a]chieving accreditation, important though it is, is just part of a wider process of continuous improvement and development which resonates with our culture of innovation here at Lancaster.”
A statement from LUMS welcomed the re-accreditation from AACSB, particularly recognizing the work of Professor Cox and her team, saying, “All credit to Sue Cox and her team, who put in the real work.”
