Korea University also rewrote business school history in Korea. In January 1963, Korea University established the Graduate School of Business Administration and recruited the first MBA students. This is seen today as an excellent example of trailblazing foresight. Under a period of government educational reform, the Graduate School was converted into the Professional Graduate School of Business Administration. More recently, KUBS ranked first for five consecutive years from 2007 through 2011 in the second phase of the governmental BK21 project, evaluating across all areas, including faculty, programs and infrastructure. In 2013, KUBS was the only school of its kind selected for the BK21 PLUS(Program for Leading Universities & Students) project, beating out its competitors at Seoul National University and Yonsei University.

The reputation of KUBS as the first, best, and biggest has been longstanding, and it looks to last well into the future. KUBS has initiated a number of programs, including overseas internships, the recruitment of full-time foreign instructors and female professors, the establishment of the Business Forum, and the founding of the Video Education Center and the Asian Institute of Corporate Governance. KUBS was the first in the nation to earn AACSB accreditation from the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and EQUIS (EFMD Quality Improvement System) accreditation from the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) in 2005 and 2007, respectively. In addition, KUBS was the first domestic business school to earn its first five-year re-accreditation for both AACSB and EQUIS in 2010 and succeeded in renewing its second five-year re-accreditation in 2015 as well. In addition, KUBS has recently reaffirmed its world-class standing by becoming a full academic member of the CEMS Global Alliance; an exclusive group of academic and corporate members where only the single best business school per nation is granted membership.
KUBS faculty have also proven their research capabilities to be among the best in the world. In “The UTD Worldwide Top 100 Business School Rankings Based on Research Contributions” conducted by the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), KUBS ranked No. 91 worldwide and No. 1 in Korea. While other domestic business schools have been placing in the top 150 or below, KUBS has consistently placed within the top 100 since 2011.

KUBS has been operating “The KUBS Worldwide Business Research Ranking” since 2015, based on the vision of “World-Class Knowledge Hub in Business.” This system was established in order to independently improve and develop the pre-existing ranking systems in the world. KUBS, as a leader of business education in Asia and beyond, will not merely be evaluated by other entities.

As the best in Korea, KUBS has educated numerous talented individuals with the potential to lead Korea’s future over the past 110 years and will continue in playing its role as a pioneer in history in the global era of the 21st century.