As of February 2021, Epoka University has become the first higher education institution in Albania to be accepted as an institutional member of AACSB – the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The University’s Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences will now move towards beginning the process of accrediting its business programs in the near future.

Also known as AACSB International, the US-based professional organization has been accrediting and setting quality assurance standards for business programs in the United States and around the globe since 1916, and is considered one of the most highly regarded accreditation bodies in any field. Its worldwide headquarters is in Tampa, Florida, USA but the organization has a regional office in the Netherlands which covers Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) as well as a regional office for Asia located in Singapore.

Top business schools around the world, including Harvard Business School, Stanford University, INSEAD in France, and SDA Bocconi in Italy, are among those institutions that are fully accredited by AACSB.  Within the Balkan region, the University of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina is fully accredited, as are the University of Zagreb and the Zagreb School of Economics and Management in Croatia as well as the University of Ljubljana and the University of Maribor in Slovenia.  As is the case with Epoka University, a number of other regional institutions enjoy membership and are at various stages of the process of accreditation – a process which can take on average five years to complete.

AACSB membership and eventual accreditation will help foster development, growth and improvement in the quality of Epoka University’s business programs, as well as help the University realize its internationalization goals and further build the University’s brand as a leading globally-oriented university within the Western Balkans.  AACSB membership comes on the heels of Epoka University’s entry into the QS World University Rankings for 2021 for the first time in its history. 

Currently, the University offers programs at the Bachelor’s level in Business Administration, Business Informatics, International Marketing and Logistics Management, Economics, and Banking and Finance. It also several programs at the graduate level including a Master’s in Business Administration, a joint Master’s with the University of Applied Sciences of Mainz, Master’s and PhD programs in Economics, and Master’s and PhD programs in Banking and Finance.

Reflecting on the milestone of Epoka University becoming the first Albanian institution to become a member of AACSB, Epoka University’s Rector, Professor Dr. Gungor Turan noted, “We are very pleased to join this important internationally-recognized professional organization, and we look forward to working with AACSB to accredit and assure the quality of our business programs”.  Associate Professor Dr. David Felsen, Vice-Rector for International Relations, added, “It is exciting to become a member of such a well-regarded international accrediting organization like AACSB which will serve to raise Epoka University’s profile and brand worldwide”.    

As Epoka University moves forward in preparing itself for the multi-year process of accreditation, it will strive to further strengthen its academic networks and its relations with the business schools of leading institutions of higher education.