Business education at the University of St. Thomas took a leap forward by earning accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business in November.
St. Thomas is the first private university in Minnesota to hold AACSB accreditation and the second university, public or private, in the Twin Cities (the other is the University of Minnesota). Six business schools in Minnesota are accredited by AACSB; the others are in Moorhead, St. Cloud, Mankato and Duluth.
Less than 5 percent of the world’s business schools hold AACSB accreditation, which also makes credentialed business schools eligible for many of the top rankings of MBA programs and provides faculty with greater research opportunities.
The accreditation will impact more than a third of the students enrolled at St. Thomas. Of its nearly 11,000 students, 36 percent, or 3,850, are enrolled in the Opus College of Business.
Thirty-eight percent of undergraduates and 32 percent of graduate students study business at the university’s campuses in St. Paul and Minneapolis.
The Opus College of Business filed its AACSB application in 2006. After completing an internal review and evaluation process and developing a plan to meet AACSB standards, AACSB business deans visited and announced accreditation in November.
The College of Business’ accreditation will be recognized in April in New York.
