Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)

Founding and History

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business was founded in 1916, originally as the “Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business,” by 17 leading American colleges and universities. It began to accredit business schools in 1919 based on its newly formulated business degree program guidelines, expanding to accounting program accreditation in 1980. It changed its name to “Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business” in 2001. ³

As of 2025, the association reported 1,055 accredited member institutions across the world, of which 612 were in the Americas. ⁴

Financials

For the fiscal year ending June 2024, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business reported $28,463,824 in revenue, of which $8,332,495 stemmed from grants and contributions, $18,246,108 in program service revenue, and $1,873,221 in investment income. Of its program service revenue, $11,106,584 was from accreditation fees and $6,261,744 in registration fees. It did not report any government funding that year. ⁵

It reported $26,593,864 in expenses, of which $172,518 was paid out in grants and contributions; $13,371,200 in staff salaries and compensation; $628,265 in advertising spending; $2,824,562 on information technology; $880,767 in travel expenses; $3,991,637 for conferences, conventions, and meetings; $494,926 for advocacy and awareness; and $91,732 in professional development. ⁶

Organization Philosophy

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business is primarily focused on its accrediting activities and the promotion of its member schools. However, as part of this activity it has embraced left-of-center activism focused on issues such as diversity and social activism. Its accreditation standards now explicitly embrace environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, claiming that business schools have a responsibility to educate students as future leaders to embrace these left-of-center issues. ^{1  7  2}

Projects and Initiatives

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business administers a variety of programs and events for its member institutions. These include career educational seminars, but also include programs and events for promoting its ESG agenda that requires its member schools to adopt left-of-center framing and activism to maintain accreditation. These include hosting a conference on “embedding sustainability and responsibility into curriculum,” numerous articles and videos on “diversity,” and an emphasis on a company’s social “impact,” meaning that companies should be focused on left-of-center social change as part of its core function. ^{8  9  7}

Specifically, the AACSB added “Standard 9” to its accreditation standards in 2020, which requires schools to integrate “social impact” considerations into their curriculum and other school activities and requires them to demonstrate how they are working for the “’greater good of society” beyond educating people to run successful businesses. The standard recommends using the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which encompass issues such as gender equality, alternative energy, wealth inequality, climate activism, and “responsible consumption.” ²

Leadership

As of 2026, Lily Bi was the president and executive director of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, a position she had held since June of 2023. She has worked in a number of executive roles at business-related enterprises throughout her career, including director and vice president roles at the Institute of Internal Auditors, as a corporate auditor at the Kirin Holding’s Company in Japan, lead IT consultant at Sumisho Computer Systems, and as vice president of the IT department at Mizuho Corporate Bank in Singapore.  ¹⁰