Rankings and Accreditation

Rankings and Accreditation Add Fuel to ‘Thunderbird Mystique’

Thunderbird’s Master of Global Management degree was ranked No. 1 in the Times Higher Education/Wall Street Journal 2019 Business Schools Report. Thunderbird was also awarded prestigious reaccreditation from AACSB.

Thunderbird’s expansive global alumni community knows first-hand that their T-bird education turns heads and opens doors.

The School has a reputation of being a small United Nations located in the southwest U.S. According to that fitting analogy, Thunderbird is also a fairly large and growing global body with members all around the world. A Thunderbird degree gives you something in common with more than 45,000 active alumni in more than 70 countries worldwide. Other alumni have been where you’ve been, done much of what you have done, and seen much of what you have seen. They know how rigorous and relevant your studies have been. They know how Thunderbird has prepared you to understand and impact the world of global business and thrive in the future.

However, as you know, Thunderbird’s reputation isn’t driven just by former students. Rankings and accreditation also help tell prospective students and future employers the value of a Thunderbird and ASU education.

GLOBAL ACCREDITATIONS

All Thunderbird and ASU graduate and undergraduate academic programs are fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, an independent accreditation body founded in 1895. Thunderbird is also accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB Interna tional), which was established in 1916 as a prestigious non-profit organization to accredit business schools throughout the world.

In June 2019, Thunderbird earned AACSB International reaccreditation for a 5-year extension, the maximum possible. Thunderbird has been accredited by AACSB International since 1994. “Accreditation by AACSB, our premier accreditor, is critical because it tells students whether a business school meets a rigorous standard established for quality, which is a primary factor in choosing where to study. Accreditation aids Thunder bird in determining if transfer credits should be accepted, it helps employers judge the validity of programs of study and whether a graduate is qualified,

Sanjeev Khagram and Mary Teagarden

and it helps schools create goals for institutional improvement. For all these reasons, we’re very proud to have this prestigious recognition,”said Mary Teagarden, Thunderbird Associate Dean of Faculty and Administration. “To earn and maintain an AACSB accreditation is a remarkable achieve ment, recognizing academic excellence and a commitment to continuous improvement,” said Thunderbird Director General and Dean, Sanjeev Khagram. “Business and management schools can be a force for good, contributing to a prosperous, inclusive world economy and to planetary sustainability. AACSB is a hallmark of excellence and helps spread that message to a wide range of stakeholders − students, alumni, global business, and society at large.”

The fundamental purpose of AACSB accreditation is to challenge business educators to pursue excellence and continuous improvement in their business programs. AACSB achieves this

purpose by defining a set of rigorous criteria and standards, coordinating peer reviews and consultation, and rec ognizing high-quality business schools.

LEADING THE PACK WITH A NO. 1 RANKING

Academic rankings also help spread the word about what Thunderbird offers.

The School’s specialized Master of Global Management degree earned the No. 1 Master in Management ranking in the Times Higher Education/Wall Street Journal 2019 Business Schools Report. In total, 114 business schools from 24 countries were ranked in the full report. Thunderbird was the only U.S.-based school to rank in the top five for the Master in Management specialty.

The Master in Management rank ings were determined based on alumni survey responses from ranked universities. The schools were measured across 20 individual performance indicators to create an overall score, which was aggregated into four key strength areas: resources, engage ment, outcomes, and environment. “It is rewarding to know that our alumni and students value the closeknit accessibility and one-on-one focus that we are able to deliver to them as a distinctive graduate school,” said Professor Teagarden. “One of the greatest values of a specialized master’s degree is that it enables students to have a laser-focus on becoming true experts in their craft.”

RECOGNIZED WORLDWIDE

It’s probably nothing new to you. Around the world, Thunderbird’s reputation has always preceded itself. And that reputation – that ‘Thunderbird Mystique’ – is about much more than accreditation and rankings. But still, it’s nice to have the bragging rights. And now you’ve got even more.