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 accreditation
AACSB 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 process
AACSB: 2–7 years
AMBA: 9–18 months
EQUIS: 2–3 years
Reaccreditation
AACSB: 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 team
AACSB'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 content
AACSB's report reflects compliance with the AACSB standards
AMBA's report includes compliance with criteria, commendations and recommendations
EQUIS's report reflects compliance with the EQUIS standards
Criteria/Standards size
AACSB: 77 pages for Business Accreditation; 36 pages for Accounting Accreditation
AMBA: 24 pages (9 pages for MBA; 9 pages for MBM; 6 pages for DBA)
EQUIS: 67 pages
Quantitative vs Qualitative
AACSB has more quantitative criteria (checklists)
AMBA has more qualitative criteria
EQUIS is in the middle (between AACSB and AMBA)
Internationalization
AACSB 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 numbers
AACSB: prescribed faculty ratios (AQ/PQ ratio)
AMBA: no prescribed faculty-to-students ratio
EQUIS: prescribed minimum numbers of faculty
Visiting faculty
AACSB 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.
Research
AACSB 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 criteria
at 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 fees
AACSB: 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 Technology
Monash University
Austria
Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna
Belgium
Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School, Ghent
Brazil
EAESP - Fundação Getúlio Vargas, São Paulo
Insper, São Paulo
Canada
HEC Montreal, Montreal
Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, Ottawa
Chile
Adolfo Ibáñez University, Santiago
China
School of Business, Hong Kong Baptist University
Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai
Lingnan (University) College, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou
Sun Yat-sen Business School, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou
School of Economics and Management, Tongji University
Zhejiang University
Colombia
Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Administración, Bogota
Denmark
Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen
Aarhus University BSS, Aarhus
Egypt
American University in Cairo, Cairo.
Finland
Finland
Aalto University School of Business, Helsinki
Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki and Vaasa
France
Audencia Nantes, Nantes
EDHEC (École des hautes études commerciales du nord), Lille & Nice
EMLYON Business School, Lyon
ESC Rennes School of Business, Rennes
ESCP-Europe (École supérieure de commerce de Paris — Europe), Paris
Grenoble School of Management, Grenoble
HEC Paris (Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales), Paris
IÉSEG School of Management (Lille, Paris)
INSEAD (Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires), Fontainebleau & Singapore
KEDGE Business School, Bordeaux and Marseille
NEOMA Business School, Rouen and Reims
Toulouse Business School, Toulouse
Skema Business School, Sophia Antipolis, Lille, Paris, Raleigh (NC, USA), Souzhou (China), Belo Horizonte (Brasil)
Germany
ESCP Europe, Berlin
European School of Management and Technology, Berlin
Mannheim Business School, Mannheim
India
Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
Ireland
Ireland
University College Dublin, Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business/UCD Quinn School of Business, Dublin
Italy
ESCP Europe, Turin
SDA 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, Maastricht
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam
University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Business School, Amsterdam
New Zealand
New Zealand
University of Auckland Business School, Auckland
University of Waikato Faculty of Management, Hamilton
Victoria University of Wellington, Victoria Business School, Wellington
Norway
BI Norwegian Business School
Peru
CENTRUM Católica, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima
Poland
Poland
Kozminski University, Warsaw
Portugal
CATÓLICA-LISBON, School of Business & Economics, Lisbon
Nova School of Business and Economics, Lisbon
Slovenia
FELU - Faculty of Economics, Ljubljana
South Africa
University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, Cape Town
University of Stellenbosch Business School, Cape Town
Spain
ESADE Business School and ESADE University Faculties, Barcelona
ESCP Europe, Madrid
IE Business School, Madrid
IESE Barcelona
Sweden
School of Business, Economics and Law, Gothenburg
Switzerland
Switzerland
IMD Lausanne
United Kingdom
Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, Glasgow
Ashridge Business School, Berkhamsted
Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham
Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, Birmingham
Bradford University School of Management, University of Bradford, Bradford
Cass Business School, City University London, London
Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield University, Bedfordshire
Durham University Business School, Durham University, Durham
University of Edinburgh Business School, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh
ESCP Europe, London
Henley Business School, University of Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Reading
Imperial College Business School, London
Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster University, Lancaster
Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, Leeds
London Business School, London
Loughborough University School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University, Loughborough
Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester
Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne
Open University Business School
University of Sheffield Management School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield
Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
Warwick Business School, University of Warwick
Venezuela
IESA, Caracas
Many 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.
