UK's Gatton College Maintains Prestigious Accreditation

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 20, 2012) — The Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky has maintained its business accreditation by AACSB International – the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.  Founded in 1916, AACSB International is the longest serving global accrediting body for business schools that offer undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in business and accounting.

AACSB accreditation is the hallmark of excellence in business education, and has been earned by less than 5 percent of the world's business programs. Today, there are more than 650 business schools in 45 countries and territories that maintain AACSB Accreditation. Similarly, 178 institutions maintain an additional specialized AACSB Accreditation for their accounting programs.

“It takes a great deal of commitment and determination to earn and maintain AACSB accreditation,” said Robert D. Reid, executive vice president and chief accreditation officer of AACSB International. “Business schools must not only meet specific standards of excellence, but their deans, faculty and professional staff must make a commitment to ongoing continuous improvement to ensure that the institution will continue to deliver the highest quality of education to students.”

For more than 80 years, the University of Kentucky’s Gatton College of Business and Economics has been preparing graduates for today’s business world. The college houses bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs within five academic units: Finance & Quantitative Methods; Management; Marketing & Supply Chain; Economics; and the Von Allmen School of Accountancy.  A member of the AACSB International, Gatton College has been accredited since 1926 to offer undergraduate and graduate programs in the business disciplines and since 1988 for undergraduate and graduate accounting programs.

"We are very proud and pleased to receive this news," said David Blackwell, dean of the Gatton College.  "This demonstrates the ongoing commitment to excellence that marks the approach of our faculty and staff, ensuring that all of our students, undergraduate and graduate, receive a high-quality business education which prepares them for the next step in their lives, whether that be in Kentucky, elsewhere in our country, or anywhere in the world."

To learn more about Gatton College of Business & Economics at the University of Kentucky, visit http://gatton.uky.edu.  Or to learn more about AACSB International accreditation, visit the accreditation section of the AACSB International Web site at: http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/.

MEDIA CONTACT:  Amie Ellis, (859) 257-6539; Carl Nathe, (859) 257-3200; Michele Sparks, (859) 257-0040