Triple accreditation (or Triple Crown accreditation) is the accreditation awarded to 76 business schools worldwide as of July 2016 (up from 74 in May 2016) 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)AMBA - The Association of MBAs (based in London)EQUIS - European Quality Improvement System (based in Brussels)Of the 13,670 schools offering business degree programs worldwide, only 70+ 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)".
Each of the three institutions assesses a business school according to different criteria and scope:
Scope of accreditationAACSB 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 processAACSB: 2–7 yearsAMBA: 9–18 monthsEQUIS: 2–3 years
ReaccreditationAACSB: 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 teamAACSB'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 contentAACSB's report reflects compliance with the AACSB standardsAMBA's report includes compliance with criteria, commendations and recommendationsEQUIS's report reflects compliance with the EQUIS standards
Criteria/Standards sizeAACSB: 77 pages for Business Accreditation; 36 pages for Accounting AccreditationAMBA: 24 pages (9 pages for MBA; 9 pages for MBM; 6 pages for DBA)EQUIS: 67 pages
Quantitative vs QualitativeAACSB has more quantitative criteria (checklists)AMBA has more qualitative criteriaEQUIS is in the middle (between AACSB and AMBA)
InternationalizationAACSB 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 numbersAACSB: prescribed faculty ratios (AQ/PQ ratio)AMBA: no prescribed faculty-to-students ratioEQUIS: prescribed minimum numbers of faculty
Visiting facultyAACSB 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.
ResearchAACSB 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 criteriaat 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 feesAACSB: 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.
There are 75 triple-accredited schools based in 30 countries and territories as of July 2016:
Argentina
IAE Universidad Austral, Buenos Aires Australia
QUT Graduate School of Business, Queensland University of TechnologyMonash University Austria
Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna Belgium
Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School, Ghent Brazil
EAESP - Fundação Getúlio Vargas, São PauloInsper, São Paulo Canada
HEC Montreal, MontrealTelfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, Ottawa Chile
Adolfo Ibáñez University, Santiago China
School of Business, Hong Kong Baptist UniversityAntai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, ShanghaiLingnan (University) College, Sun Yat-sen University, GuangzhouSun Yat-sen Business School, Sun Yat-sen University, GuangzhouSchool of Economics and Management, Tongji UniversityZhejiang University Colombia
Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Administración, Bogota Denmark
Copenhagen Business School, CopenhagenAarhus University BSS, Aarhus Egypt
American University in Cairo, Cairo.Finland
Finland
Aalto University School of Business, HelsinkiHanken School of Economics, Helsinki and Vaasa France
Audencia Nantes, NantesEDHEC (École des hautes études commerciales du nord), Lille & NiceEMLYON Business School, LyonESC Rennes School of Business, RennesESCP-Europe (École supérieure de commerce de Paris — Europe), ParisGrenoble School of Management, GrenobleHEC Paris (Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales), ParisIÉSEG School of Management (Lille, Paris)INSEAD (Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires), Fontainebleau & SingaporeKEDGE Business School, Bordeaux and MarseilleNEOMA Business School, Rouen and ReimsToulouse Business School, ToulouseSkema Business School, Sophia Antipolis, Lille, Paris, Raleigh (NC, USA), Souzhou (China), Belo Horizonte (Brasil) Germany
ESCP Europe, BerlinEuropean School of Management and Technology, BerlinMannheim Business School, Mannheim India
Indian Institute of Management CalcuttaIreland
Ireland
University College Dublin, Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business/UCD Quinn School of Business, Dublin Italy
ESCP Europe, TurinSDA Bocconi School of Management, Milan Mexico
EGADE Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Guadalajara and Mexico City.Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, Mexico City.The Netherlands
Netherlands
Maastricht University, School of Business and Economics, MaastrichtRotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, RotterdamUniversity of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Business School, AmsterdamNew Zealand
New Zealand
University of Auckland Business School, AucklandUniversity of Waikato Faculty of Management, HamiltonVictoria University of Wellington, Victoria Business School, Wellington Norway
BI Norwegian Business School Peru
CENTRUM Católica, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, LimaPoland
Poland
Kozminski University, Warsaw Portugal
CATÓLICA-LISBON, School of Business & Economics, LisbonNova School of Business and Economics, Lisbon Slovenia
FELU - Faculty of Economics, Ljubljana South Africa
University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, Cape TownUniversity of Stellenbosch Business School, Cape Town Spain
ESADE Business School and ESADE University Faculties, BarcelonaESCP Europe, MadridIE Business School, MadridIESE Barcelona Sweden
School of Business, Economics and Law, Gothenburg Switzerland
Switzerland
IMD Lausanne United Kingdom
Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, GlasgowAshridge Business School, BerkhamstedAston Business School, Aston University, BirminghamBirmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, BirminghamBradford University School of Management, University of Bradford, BradfordCass Business School, City University London, LondonCranfield School of Management, Cranfield University, BedfordshireDurham University Business School, Durham University, DurhamUniversity of Edinburgh Business School, Edinburgh University, EdinburghESCP Europe, LondonHenley Business School, University of Reading, Henley-on-Thames and ReadingImperial College Business School, LondonLancaster University Management School, Lancaster University, LancasterLeeds University Business School, University of Leeds, LeedsLondon Business School, LondonLoughborough University School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University, LoughboroughManchester Business School, University of Manchester, ManchesterNewcastle University Business School, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon TyneOpen University Business SchoolUniversity of Sheffield Management School, University of Sheffield, SheffieldStrathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde, GlasgowWarwick Business School, University of Warwick Venezuela
IESA, CaracasMany 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, Tuck School of Business, 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.
