In February 2020, it was announced that Waseda Business School (henceforth WBS)  earned the AACSB International accreditation, following the EQUIS accreditation granted in March 2019. This makes WBS one of the only two business schools in Japan that have been accredited by both AACSB and EQUIS.

The AACSB accreditation, which aims to maintain and improve the quality of business school’s education in accordance with global standards, places particular emphasis on the improvement process. AACSB specifies 15 criteria, and an institution generally needs to work for years to meet them by preparing a series of self-evaluation reports and having them reviewed by the AACSB committee. The accreditation process also includes on-site rigorous assessments by a peer review team composed of three experts appointed by AACSB. As a result, WBS’s quality education and its multi-year improvement plan were highly regarded.

It is an honor for WBS to be on the list of schools accredited by two major international accreditations – AACSB and EQUIS – which recognizes that WBS meets the world’s highest standards in education and research.

What is AACSB?

AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is the first international accreditation body in the field of management education. Established in 1916 mainly by business schools in the United States, AACSB has been the longest-serving global accreditation body for business schools, and the largest business education network connecting students, educators, and businesses worldwide. Along with EQUIS, launched in Europe, AACSB is recognized worldwide as an authoritative international accreditation. It has been earned by only 5 percent – that is around 870 – of the world’s schools offering business degrees at the bachelor’s level or higher.