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THE ADVANTAGES OF ATTENDING AN EQUIS ACCREDITED BUSINESS SCHOOL

By Newsweek Educational Insight

There are various factors prospective students can look at while making their selection. Geographical destination, the school's reputation, rankings, curriculum, career services, fees and scholarship options are just some of the pointers, but how can they account for the overall quality of the school and learning about the students' experience and the connection of the school with practice and society?

One way to find out is to check whether the school is accredited by a global accreditation body and meets internationally agreed quality standards. Why? Because a rigorous accreditation system doesn't just pick on a few criteria that can vary immensely from year to year. It actually gets right to the heart of the school's offerings, its ethos and value for students. Simply put, it allows students to evaluate their prospective learning experiences before embarking on a course of study and learn about the position of the school when compared to similar institutions all over the world.

EQUIS – EFMD Quality Improvement System – accreditation benchmarks the school against international standards in terms of governance, programmes, students, faculty, research, and foremost, internationalisation, ethics, responsibility and sustainability, as well as connections with practice.

A balance between high academic quality and the professional relevance provided by close interaction with the corporate world is at the core of the system. EQUIS attaches particular importance to the creation of an effective learning environment that favours the development of students' managerial and entrepreneurial skills and fosters their personal development and sense of global responsibility.

EQUIS also looks for innovation in all respects, including programme design and pedagogy. Institutions that are accredited by EQUIS have demonstrated not only the highest quality in each and every dimension but also a consistent international approach in most of them.

Acknowledged worldwide by potential students, employers, clients and the media as the most holistic and rigorous accreditation process, EQUIS accreditation is often a pre-requisite for entry to rankings, such as the Financial Times rankings. Currently, there are 183 EQUIS-accredited institutions in 44 countries.

Learn more about EQUIS at efmdglobal.org/equis

EQUIS Accredited Schools in Asia 2019

Across Asia, fast economic growth, rising population and higher disposable incomes have triggered a rapidly growing demand for business education, which inspired many young people to seek business degrees.

Driven by the pursuit of advanced learning and international experience, prospective students often chose schools in Europe and North America.

In parallel, the growth of attractive employment opportunities closer to home and the rising interest in further education and training led to more investment in business education in Asia, enhanced by quality benchmarking offered through international accreditations and partnerships.

In 2001, EQUIS accredited the first school in Asia - HKUST Business School - and in 2004, the first school in Mainland China - CEIBS. The latter triggered a heightened interest in the international accreditations from schools in the region.

The best testimonial to how rapidly the quality of management education has developed in Asia is the evolution of the number of EQUIS accredited institutions. Since 2010 the total number of EQUIS accredited schools has grown by 42%. In Asia, it has more than doubled, from 19 accredited schools in 2010 to 40 right now. Asian schools account today for over 20% of the EQUIS-accredited schools.

Their academic rigour, excellent corporate connections and exceptional career opportunities for graduates are proven by their international accreditations and their high placement in the world rankings.

Now, many of the institutions in the region can compete globally with the top business schools in the world.

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EQUIS Accredited Schools in Asia 2019

EQUIS Accredited Schools in Europe 2019

EQUIS accreditation and quality improvement system was born in Europe. When EQUIS was designed 20 years ago, EFMD aimed at creating a system which would reflect European values and approaches to quality in business and management education. EQUIS' respect for diversity, commitment to internationalisation and corporate connections are deeply rooted in the European concept of management education.

To date, EQUIS has accredited 90 leading business schools in the region, starting with pioneer schools in Spain, France, the UK and Italy in late 1990, and spreading rapidly to the rest of the continent.

To date, European schools represent nearly 50% of all the 183 accredited schools.

During the past couple of years, EFMD has actively engaged in the development and quality improvement among institutions in Central and Eastern Europe, with a regional representation based in Prague.

Eric Cornuel, EFMD's President, testifies to the central role of diversity in the EQUIS accreditation system: "EQUIS is a way of celebrating excellence in diversity, and I'm delighted to see how the EQUIS system and the accredited schools have evolved in these 20 years. There is no one harmonised definition of quality, but there are an excellence benchmark and a striving for perfection in the continuous improvement process."

Springing up from its European roots, EQUIS has evolved to adapt its standards to a broader array of institutional models and cultures, and to better respond to grand challenges of business and society, becoming the global standard for management education.


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EQUIS Accredited Schools in Europe 2019