The Association of MBAs (AMBA) has awarded accreditation to the University of Macau’s Faculty of Business Administration (FBA), making it the first and only educational institution in Macau to do so.
This makes the Faculty part of the less than 1.3 percent of business schools to hold both AACSB and AMBA accreditations – widely regarded as two of the most prestigious accrediting bodies for business schools.
Professor Song, Rector of the University of Macau, said in a press statement: “This is a testimony of FBA’s excellence in business education and its impact to society. It has also demonstrated that FBA is advancing very quickly towards achieving its vision of becoming a model international elite business school”.
The accreditation marks another “milestone” for the Faculty, according to Professor Jean Chen, Dean of FBA, referring to the AACSB accreditation award received earlier this year.
She added: “It is an exemplary indication of our efforts in internationalisation. This has placed us on the same platform as the world’s elite business schools and significantly enhanced our opportunity to collaborate with prestigious business schools worldwide.
“Furthermore, AMBA has now adopted a new policy which only accredits up to 300 Business Schools in the world. We have caught a golden opportunity to advance our journey to becoming a triple-crowned business school in the world.’”
#UM‘s FBA now joins an exclusive group of Business Schools (less than 1.3% in the world) that have gained both #AACSB and #AMBA accreditations – two of the world’s top business education accreditations. #universityofmacau pic.twitter.com/EOaKrT1TQ4
— University of Macau (@UM_1981) November 22, 2019
The FBA joins 39 other business schools in China that have received AMBA accreditation.
Accreditation is a badge of approval sought after by business and accounting programmes worldwide. Accredited programmes are reviewed at least every five years to ensure quality and improvements are continuous.
The AMBA only accredits MBA, DBA, and Master of Management programmes whereas the AACSB accredits business schools as a whole, both graduate and undergraduate programmes.
Criteria for MBA programme accreditation by AMBA include, among other factors, financial viability, faculty quality & sufficiency, rigorous admission process, clearly articulated learning outcomes as well as curriculum breadth and depth. An institution must also have been graduating MBA students for a minimum of three years to be eligible for accreditation.
The FBA’s accreditation underscores increasing global recognition of China’s universities, echoing the rise of Asian countries as global economic powers. Though younger, Chinese business schools are quickly establishing themselves in global league tables, with increasing applications to their MBA programmes. The founder of MBA Link, Lawrence Linker, told the Financial Times that their admissions consultancy was initially set up to help Asian students study abroad in the US and Europe. Today, however, they are seeing a marked increase of enquiries from US and Europe to study in China.
“A few decades ago, a western business professional might take an international assignment, often in Asia, as a way to gain more responsibility and level up quickly before returning home,” Mr Linker says.
“But we’re seeing more young western professionals applying to schools in Asia to place themselves in that environment rather than hope for an opportunity from their employer.”