Rankings & Accreditations

ESB Business School is committed to international quality standards and since 2019 has been accredited by AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). The AACSB is the world's largest accreditation organisation with demanding quality requirements for education and research at business schools.

Only 5 percent of all business schools worldwide bear the coveted AACSB seal of approval. ESB Business School is thus in the same league as top American universities such as Harvard Business School and the Yale School of Management.

Demanding quality standards for education and research

To earn the AACSB Seal of Accreditation, business schools must meet nine quality standards in the areas of Strategic Management and Innovation, Learner Success, Thought Leadership, Engagement and Societal Impact. These standards apply to the entire School across all programmes and degrees and include the area of research. The following criteria are decisive:

• Targeted implementation of the Business School's strategy
• Excellent qualification of the teaching staff
• Teaching concepts that ensure the successful acquisition of competencies and student engagement
• Excellence, innovation and effectiveness of teaching and research

ESB Business School has been system-accredited by the Accreditation Council since 2013.

System accreditation confirms that ESB Business School has an independent quality management system that guarantees the achievement of the qualification goals and qualification standards of the study programmes. All study programmes at ESB Business School undergo comprehensive internal quality assurance measures and regular study programme audits and thereby achieve accreditation.

The evaluation report of the Accreditation Council confirms:

It was seen that a development-oriented quality management has been established, which actively accompanies the change processes of study and teaching. (...) A special feature of ESB's quality management system (QMS) is the inclusion of the AACSB quality standards in its own QMS. The review panel was able to determine during the on-site assessments that the requirements and instruments of the AACSB (...) complement the QMS in a meaningful way. The evaluation panel would like to positively emphasise that a noticeable culture of quality is lived at ESB.

ESB Business School was re-accredited in 2020 for a further eight years without any conditions and bears the seal of the Accreditation Council.

The FIBAA (Foundation for International Business Administration) premium seal is awarded to study programmes that exceed the specific requirements in terms of concept, content and structure and thus achieve a special quality. The following part-time Master's programmes in cooperation with the Knowledge Foundation @ Reutlingen University (KFRU) have been awarded with the FIBAA premium seal:

• M.Sc. Consulting and Business Analytics

• M.A. Strategic Sales Management

All study programmes conducted in cooperation with the KFRU are programme-accredited by the Accreditation Council.