The ISU College of Business and the separately accredited accounting program have earned a five-year accreditation extension by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International.

In order to earn the accreditation, the College of Business had to meet AACSB standards for innovation, impact and engagement. AACSB Accreditation is known, worldwide, as the longest standing, most recognized form of specialized/professional accreditation an institution and its business programs can earn.

According to their website, less than 5 percent of the world’s business programs have earned accreditation from AACSB International. The College of Business first received accreditation from AACSB in 1991, seven years after becoming a college. 

The AACSB committee singled out four programs and policies as strengths of the college:

– Student engagement: CyBIZ Lab and other opportunities in which students work directly with business were recognized as model activities.

– Interdisciplinary programs: The College of Business partners with the College of Engineering to offer a program in which students can earn a four-year undergraduate engineering degree and an MBA in five years. The two colleges also partner on a master’s of engineering in engineering management program.

– Communications Lab: Students can receive writing critiques as well as help develop their oral communication skills. The committee noted that this is a conscious effort to address an ongoing challenge for business schools to improve students’ written and oral skills.

– Doctoral program: The Business and Technology Ph.D. program has advanced quickly given that it is relatively new.

The accreditation effort was led by Danny Johnson, associate dean of the College of Business.

According to their website, the ISU College of Business is one of 716 member institutions that hold AACSB Accreditation and one of 182 institutions to earn specialized accreditation for their accounting programs.

Overall, 48 countries and territories are represented by AACSB-accredited schools.