Top American accolade for Bradford Business School

Bradford University School of Management today (Monday 3 December 2012) joins the world’s elite of business schools as it receives a quality award from an American body, giving it the ‘triple crown’ of accreditations.

In awarding this latest kitemark, The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) particularly praised the School for the quality of its programmes and research; its international operations in Europe, the Middle East, India and Far East; and for its relationships with and support for alumni.

As of April this year, only 57 business schools across the world had achieved the triple top standards from AACSB as well as EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) and AMBA (the Association of MBAs).  AACSB says that its accreditation differentiates a business school in terms of quality, rigour and relevance.

“AACSB congratulates Bradford University School of Management and Dean Sarah Dixon on earning accreditation, and we welcome them into the family of AACSB-accredited business schools,” said John J. Fernandes, president and chief executive officer of AACSB International. “This represents the highest achievement for an educational institution that awards business degrees. Dean Dixon and the faculty, directors and staff are to be commended for their role in earning accreditation.”

Dr Sarah Dixon, dean of the School, said:  “This American kitemark recognises the quality of the School from our undergraduate to MBA programmes and our research to executive education.  It is particularly important for worldwide student recruitment and assures them that we are world-leading in all aspects of our business education.

“The assessors were impressed with our global campus, which as an example means that students can study different modules of their MBA in Manila, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Perugia and Bradford.   AACSB praised our strategy to help students and businesses develop new, sustainable business models for the future – and our research and teaching which make a difference to businesses.”

The School has received a number of other plaudits this week.  The Financial Times rankings continues to place Bradford among Europe’s top 50 business schools.  And the latest QS Global 200 report shows that international employers rank Bradford among the world’s top 200 business schools that they want to recruit from.

Fernandes added: “It takes a great deal of self-evaluation and determination to earn AACSB accreditation, and I commend the School for its dedication to management education, as well as its leadership in the community. They have not only met specific standards of excellence, but also made a commitment to on-going improvement to ensure that the institution will continue to deliver high quality education to its students.”