AACSB accredits its first business school in India

The Indian School of Business has become the first business school in India to be accredited by the AACSB, the American business school accreditation body.

The move sets the scene for increased competition from the two principle international accreditation bodies, AACSB from the US and Equis from Europe. Equis already accredits two Indian business schools, the Indian Institutes of Management in Ahmedabad and Bangalore.

With what are arguably the country’s top three business schools validating the international accreditation process, there is likely to be a surge in applications to the two bodies, as Indian business schools try to carve a role on the global stage.

Ajit Rangnekar, dean of ISB, described the accreditation as “robust and independent”. He further added, “We are confident that this recognition will translate into increased interest by the international community comprising of faculty, students and recruiters, and help us chart Asia’s and India’s growth as the global management education hub.”

AACSB International (the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accredits 643 business schools, the bulk of which are in the US. But of the six institutions most recently accredited, only one is in the US (Stonehill College), while one is in Europe (SDA Bocconi) and the other four are in Asia. As well as ISB they are Kyungpook National University (Korea), National Cheng Kung University (Chinese Taipei) and Yuan Ze University (Chinese Taipei).

www.isb.edu