Achieving accreditation is a process of rigorous internal focus, engagement with an AACSB-assigned mentor, and peer-reviewed evaluation to assess if BI’s teaching quality maintains the same high standard as when it first received its accreditation, and to what degree the school has been dedicated to continuously improvement.
President at BI Norwegian Business School, Inge Jan Henjesand, acknowledges the entire organisation that has been involved with the time-consuming reaccreditation efforts.
“The AACSB accreditation is a solid proof that BI deliver on a high international level. Being reaccredited may be an even bigger recognition than attaining the status in the first place,” says Henjesand.
For over a century, AACSB accreditation has been synonymous with the highest standards in business education and has been earned by only 5 percent of the world's schools offering business degrees at the bachelor’s level or higher. Today, 845 institutions across 56 countries and territories have earned AACSB accreditation.
“AACSB congratulates each institution on their achievement,” says Stephanie M. Bryant, executive vice president and chief accreditation officer of AACSB.
“Every AACSB-accredited school has demonstrated a focus on excellence in all areas, including teaching, research, curricula development, and student learning. The intense peer-review process exemplifies their commitment to quality business education,” says Bryant.
In order to earn and sustain business accreditation, an institution must align with a set of 15 business accreditation standards that focus on mission and strategic management; support for students, faculty, and staff; learning and teaching; and academic and professional engagement of students and faculty.
“BI benefits substantially from working along the quality-standards and logic of AACSB, which make us strive upwards every day,” says Henjesand.
About AACSB:
- AACSB provides quality assurance, business education intelligence, and professional development services to more than 1,700 organizations and over 800 accredited business schools worldwide.
- The AACSB accreditation is recognised as one of the “big three” (the three recognitions that are necessary for a school being considered a Triple Crown school).
- BI has held the AACSB accreditation since January 2014.
- The accreditation process differs from others, such as EQUIS, since the school is expected to slowly mature to a level worthy of accreditation before a final evaluation is made by an expert committee. The entire process can take up to seven years.
- BI was accepted as an AACSB member in 2008 and first visited by their expert committee in January 2014, before finally being awarded the accreditation four months later, in May 2014.