AACSB accreditation, from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, is a specialized accreditation earned by individual business schools, not universities as a whole. The AACSB accreditation is separate from the regional accreditation that confirms the university meets baseline academic standards, in addition to signaling that students can receive financial aid and transfer credit to other institutions.
Meanwhile, AACSB confirms a specific business school meets a much higher, business-specific bar for curriculum quality, faculty credentials and student outcomes.
Fewer than 6% of business schools worldwide hold AACSB accreditation, making it the accreditation most business educators consider the gold standard.
Arizona State University's W. P. Carey School of Business has held AACSB accreditation since 1962, and its MBA program has carried the distinction since 1964. W. P. Carey's School of Accountancy holds a second, separate AACSB accreditation specific to accounting, a distinction only a small subset of AACSB-accredited schools hold alongside their general business accreditation.
Why AACSB accreditation matters for your career
AACSB standards require continuous evaluation of curriculum relevance, faculty qualifications and measurable student learning outcomes, which means an AACSB-accredited program is under ongoing pressure to stay aligned with what employers actually need.
According to AACSB's own analysis of Fortune 500 and S&P 500 leadership, 73% of Fortune 100 CEOs and 75% of the highest-paid S&P 500 CEOs hold a degree from an AACSB-accredited school. It reflects decades of employers associating the accreditation with graduates who are ready to perform from day one.
AACSB vs. ACBSP: what's the difference?
The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) is a legitimate, recognized accrediting body. The difference comes down to selectivity and the depth of its standards. ACBSP was built to be accessible to a broad range of institutions, including community colleges and smaller private schools, with standards focused on teaching quality and continuous improvement.
AACSB's standards go further, requiring sustained research output, rigorous faculty credentialing and a level of institutional scrutiny that fewer schools can meet, which is exactly why the AACSB accreditation is difficult to achieve. Both accreditations are valuable, but they're not interchangeable when you're evaluating program prestige.
Do employers care about AACSB accreditation?
Employers who recruit heavily from business schools know the difference, especially at the graduate level and in competitive fields like consulting, finance and corporate accounting. Many large employers and MBA-recruiting firms target AACSB-accredited programs when building campus recruiting pipelines, and they often use the accreditation as a quick quality filter when a resume doesn't otherwise stand out.
That doesn't mean a non-AACSB degree closes doors. Plenty of successful business professionals graduated from ACBSP-accredited or non-accredited business programs. But when two candidates look similar on paper, AACSB accreditation can tip the scale, particularly for employers who recruit from a short list of trusted schools.
Earn your degree from an AACSB-accredited business school
W. P. Carey's AACSB accreditation applies across its degree programs, including the online MBA and the online Bachelor of Arts in business (with a concentration in business). If you're still exploring your options, browse ASU Online's full lineup of business degrees to find the program that fits your goals. Keep in mind that the program must be from W.P. Carey to have the AACSB accreditation.
An AACSB-accredited degree from W. P. Carey means you're learning entirely online from a business school held to the same standard as fewer than 6% of its peers worldwide.
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