Accounting Administrator Perceptions of Impediments to Seeking AACSB Accounting Accreditation

Abstract

As of April, 2012, only 168 U.S. institutions had attained and maintained AACSB accounting accreditation. Our objective was to determine why more U.S. institutions have chosen not to pursue AACSB accounting accreditation by identifying accreditation-related issues that are perceived to reduce an institution’s interest in seeking and/or ability to attain it. Surveys were returned by 103 of the 303 accounting program administrators at U.S. institutions with AACSB business (but not accounting) accreditation. The 86 respondents from units not pursing accounting accreditation neither agreed nor disagreed attainment of accounting accreditation would be valued by their institution’s internal constituencies or would enhance their unit’s reputation. Further, these respondents generally perceive their unit meets AACSB accounting pre-conditions and would have the ability to meet most accounting accreditation standards if they chose to pursue accounting accreditation. The issues of most significance are resource-related – securing the necessary resources to achieve their mission and action items and to meet AACSB standards on faculty sufficiency. Overall, the respondents’ lack of interest in accounting accreditation reportedly has less to do with the inability to meet accreditation standards and more to do with a lack of perceived value in accounting accreditation to warrant commitment of necessary resources.