Business Accreditation
Initial Accreditation
Business Accreditation
The initial accreditation process is a rigorous review that involves peers from business schools, committees, and AACSB staff. The initial accreditation process follows the successful completion and approval of the eligibility application for business accreditation. Initial accreditation includes a thorough review of the information submitted with the eligibility application, a mentor visit, the development and approval of an initial self-evaluation report (iSER), subsequent updates to the iSER, submission of the final self-evaluation report, and peer review team visit. Once a school achieves initial accreditation, it enters the continuous improvement review phase, undergoing a peer review every five years.
eFile Documents should be completed, saved, and emailed to [email protected] by the submission due dates for committee review. myAccreditation documents should be uploaded via myAccreditation. Schools may contact their AACSB accreditation staff liaison for assistance. Your staff liaison is listed in myAccreditation under the contacts tab.
Below are resources and templates to be used throughout the initial accreditation process.
Handbooks and Processes
Initial Business Accreditation Handbook (2020 Standards) June 2023 edits: SER due 5 months prior to visit instead of 4-6 months; corrected links, minor formatting.
Roles and Responsibilities—Initial Accreditation Process Timeline
Roles and Responsibilities—Initial Visit
Roles and Responsibilities--Deferral Visit
Policies and Procedures
Accreditation Learning Journey: In Process Schools
2020 Sample Tables
Sample Table 2-1
Sample Table 3-1
Sample Table 3-2
Sample Table 5-1
Sample Table 8-1
Sample Table 9-1 (Optional)
Documents in the sections below are reviewed for potential updates on an annual basis and posted online by July 15th.
2020 Required Documents
iSER Outline Business—myAccreditation
Profile Sheet—myAccreditation
Table 2-1 (Excel)
Table 3-1 (Excel)
Table 3-2 (Excel)
Table 5-1 (Excel)
Table 8-1 (Excel)
2020 Optional Table—myAccreditation
Table 9-1 (Excel)
Supplemental Documents
Accreditation Standards Worksheet
GAP Analysis
Documents in the sections below are reviewed for potential updates on an annual basis and posted online by July 15th.
2020 Required Documents
Progress Report Guidelines and Submission Instructions—myAccreditation
Progress Report Guidelines and Submission Instructions(initial schools transitioning to 2020 standards)
Profile Sheet—myAccreditation
2020 Required Tables—myAccreditation
Table 2-1 (Excel)
Table 3-1 (Excel)
Table 3-2 (Excel)
Table 5-1 (Excel)
Table 8-1 (Excel)
2020 Optional Table—myAccreditation
Table 9-1 (Excel)
Self-Evaluation Report (SER) Submission Instructions for Initial Visits under the 2020 standards:
Schools will submit their SER to the team and IAC via myAccreditation
2020 Required Documents:
Self-Evaluation Report Guidelines
Profile Sheet
Table 2-1 (Excel)
Table 3-1 (Excel)
Table 3-2 (Excel)
Table 5-1 (Excel)
Table 8-1 (Excel)
Table 9-1 (Excel) (Optional)