Lehigh’s College of Business and its accounting program earns AACSB accreditation.
Economics Professor Chad Meyerhoefer with students
AACSB International, a global nonprofit organization that accredits business schools, has awarded the College of Business and, in a separate review, the accounting program re-accreditation.
Less than five percent of all schools offering degree programs in business at the bachelor level or higher worldwide hold AACSB accreditation and only one percent hold the supplemental accounting accreditation, according to the AACSB.
“Our faculty and staff have been working tirelessly,” said Georgette Chapman Phillips, the Kevin L. and Lisa A. Clayton Dean of the College of Business. “Over the past few years we have overhauled the undergraduate core curriculum and redesigned the graduate programs. We’ve added 20 faculty members, and created a new Decision and Technology Analytics department, to reflect the ever-increasing importance of technology and analytics.”
AACSB accreditation includes a rigorous peer review process conducted every five years designed to promote continuous improvement and monitor how a program’s faculty, students and curriculum complement the college’s mission.
The AACSB accreditation for accounting holds the program to additional standards specific to the field.
“We provide students with outstanding accounting education and networking opportunities, and advance the profession of accountancy by producing accounting research and cross-disciplinary scholarship,” said Bryan Cloyd, chair of the Lehigh Business department of accounting. “We are focused on developing accounting students into ethical global leaders by providing them with a distinctive learning experience.”
Lehigh first earned AACSB accreditation in business in 1938 and the supplemental accounting accreditation in 1985.
Student recruiting will begin in Fall 2024 for enrollment in Fall 2025.
The team aims to fight malnutrition in Bududa, Uganda, through a sustainable poultry program and education campaign.
The new ranking is the largest gain of any business school in its category.
