KUBS proves to be Korea’s best business school recognized on the global stage

The Association to Advance Collegiate School of Business (AACSB) has extended accreditation of KUBS.

In 2005, KUBS was the first business school in Korea to obtain AACSB accreditation for all programs; undergraduate, graduate and MBA. Through the renewal of AACSB accreditation, KUBS has once again proven to be the one and only business school in Korea that is recognized around the world.

A non-profit organization founded in 1916 by deans of major US universities, AACSB has established a set of standards on management education that world-renowned business schools must meet. A business school must undergo a rigorous and meticulous review process and evaluation to earn international accreditation. Globally prestigious business schools such as Harvard, Yale and Columbia have maintained their accreditation.

The AACSB due diligence team visited KUBS on January 10-12 to review the extension of accreditation. A total of 21 categories were reviewed including faculty, curriculum and research results. KUBS was reviewed as having a clear concrete vision for becoming not only Asia’s but the world’s best school and a well-planned strategy to support this vision. AACSB highly commended the school’s international program and research accomplishments. Great progress was made with the exchange student and international internship program of KUBS which was deemed as ‘Best Practices’ by the international accreditation body.

In 2005 when KUBS earned accreditation for the first time, there were 126 outbound students in the exchange student program. In 2008, the number grew more than 60% with 206 students going abroad to study. The number of inbound students also grew by 400% between 2005 (34 students) and 2009 (168 students). 70% of these exchanges were with Europe and the Americas. The international internship program has sent 1445students to 444 companies in 54 countries since its inception in 1994. Every year, around 117 students (data based on the past five years) go abroad to work as international interns. Research by faculty has also greatly improved. In a survey of research productivity of global business schools (University of Texas at Dallas, 2009) KUBS ranked number one in Korea from 2004 to 2008.

After completing a review last March, KUBS is waiting for the renewal of the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) accreditation. 

If KUBS is able to maintain its EQUIS accreditation, it will be the only educational institution in Korea to be granted accreditation renewal by both the EQUIS and AACSB, the world’s two premiere business school accrediting organizations. While the initial accreditation assured the world-class quality of KUBS, the renewal of the acquisition is even more significant in that it is a testament to the global progress that KUBS has been making in areas such as curriculum, research performance and administrative system.

Hasung Jang, the Dean of KUBS says “What is important is not whether we can continue to maintain the accreditation but whether we can grow into a prominent business school. The extension of the acquisition was more meaningful because it provided us with the opportunity to reaffirm the global competitiveness of our faculty, students and curriculum in line with global standards.”