WPI Business School Receives Re-Accreditation and Is Lauded for Its Focus on Business Impact

The hallmark of excellence in business education, AACSB accreditation has been earned by fewer than five percent of the world’s business programs: just 989 business schools across 60 countries and territories are currently accredited.

To achieve accreditation, business programs must successfully complete a process of rigorous internal focus, engagement with an AACSB-assigned mentor, and peer-reviewed evaluation. During this multi-year process, schools focus on developing and implementing a plan to align with AACSB’s accreditation standards, which require excellence in areas relating to strategic management and innovation; student, faculty, and staff as active participants; learning and teaching; and academic and professional engagement.

WPI’s Peer Review Team included business school deans from Lehigh University, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Lawrence Technical University. During their exit session with WPI President Grace Wang, Provost Wole Soboyejo, and former Interim Provost Arthur Heinricher, the team lauded The Business School’s commitment to students and research and the exceptional quality of the school’s outreach efforts. In their subsequent report they noted “technology is a focus of the WPI programs. This is clearly one of the strengths and differentiators of the WPI curricula, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels.” They also praised a “demonstrated record of commitment to creating sustainable solutions and conducting transformative research in ways that deliver responsible impact, locally, nationally, and globally. Aspirations for societal impact are at the heart of the school’s differentiation strategy.”

The visit was led by Assistant Business School Dean Brent French, who commented, “Our successful review was the result of a team effort among stakeholders, including our Dean’s Advisory Council, our Student Advisory Council, the Morgan Teaching and Learning Center, Office of Institutional Research, our outstanding faculty program directors and the faculty at large, and our world-class staff.”