E. Philip Saunders College of Business Maintains AACSB Standards

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business has extended maintenance of accreditation for all undergraduate and master’s degree programs in business offered by the E. Philip Saunders College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology. The business school has achieved accreditation for six additional years.

RIT’s Saunders College is one of 45 schools to earn maintenance of accreditation in business this year, and was commended on the following strengths and effective practices:

• Excellent leadership in development of the new mission and executing strategies
  
• Co-op program which includes faculty advising and evaluation—with a coordinator who plays a pivotal role in the co-op, placement of graduates and relationships with co-op alumni
  
• Recruitment of minority faculty and students through innovative programs such as the Future Faculty Candidate Exploration Program and the Future Business Leaders Experience
  
• Financial support for faculty research

“We are an integral part of the President’s vision to mold RIT into the innovation university,” says Ashok Rao, dean of RIT’s Saunders College. “Our unique curriculum introduces students to creativity and design thinking as undergraduates and builds their entrepreneurial thinking through the graduate programs. Professors and a strong alumni group advise and guide students in classes, through projects and as co-ops and interns to succeed in a rapidly changing business environment.

“We’re honored to receive the AACSB accreditation, a prestigious, internationally recognized distinction. We will continue to promote high quality practical business education for our students.”

Note: One of eight colleges at RIT, the E. Philip Saunders College of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB International) and enrolls more than 1,200 undergraduate and graduate students. The Saunders College and its entrepreneurial Venture Creations Incubator work in partnership with RIT’s Albert J. Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to integrate business education with RIT’s world leading technical and creative programs. The business school also launched an online executive MBA program in 2009.

In six consecutive years since 2004, Saunders undergraduate programs have ranked in the top five percent of all U.S. business schools. The 2010 U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges ranked the undergraduate program as 57th. In 2009, The Princeton Review named the Saunders College as one of the “Great Schools for Accounting Majors!” and the graduate program was cited among “The Best 301 Business Schools.”