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William Paterson University’s Cotsakos College of Business Maintains International Accreditation from Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business

William Paterson University in Wayne has successfully maintained its international accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International for the undergraduate and graduate programs offered by its Cotsakos College of Business. Founded in 1916, AACSB International (AACSB) is the longest serving global accrediting body for business schools that offer undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in business and accounting.

Only 579 schools of business, or less than 5 percent worldwide, have earned this distinguished hallmark of excellence in management education. To maintain accreditation, a business program must undergo a rigorous internal review every five years, at which time the program must demonstrate its continued commitment to the quality standards relating to faculty qualifications, strategic management of resources, interactions of faculty and students, as well as a commitment to continuous improvement and achievement of learning goals in degree programs.

“It takes a great deal of self-evaluation and determination to earn and maintain AACSB accreditation,” said Jerry Trapnell, chief accreditation officer of AACSB International. “Schools not only must meet specific standards of excellence, but their deans, faculty, and staff must make a commitment to ongoing improvement to ensure continued delivery of high-quality education to students.”

“This six-year extension of AACSB accreditation puts the Cotsakos College of Business in an elite group of business colleges worldwide,” says Sam Basu, dean of the Cotsakos College of Business. “This positions the College for our path to the next level of excellence in New Jersey and beyond.”

The Cotsakos College of Business offers bachelor of science degree programs in accounting; business administration, with concentrations in finance, financial planning, global business, management and marketing; and the first bachelor of science degree in professional sales. The College also offers a master’s degree in business administration, with concentrations in accounting, entrepreneurship, finance, marketing, and music management.

With more than 1,800 undergraduate and graduate students, the College is housed in the University’s technologically advanced facility at 1600 Valley Road in Wayne, which includes interactive classrooms, the Financial Learning Center, and the Russ Berrie Institute for Professional Sales with its professional sales laboratory. All of the College’s programs provide students with real-world business experiences and a dynamic, contemporary curriculum that is essential for ensuring student achievement.

AACSB International is a membership association consisting of more than 1,200 educational institutions, businesses and other organizations. Its mission is excellence in management education in colleges and universities. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, AACSB is the premier accrediting agency and service organization for business schools.

William Paterson University, one of the nine state colleges and universities in New Jersey, offers 43 undergraduate and 20 graduate degree programs through five colleges: Arts and Communication, the Cotsakos College of Business, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Science and Health. Located on 370 hilltop acres in Wayne, the University enrolls approximately 11,000 students and provides housing for nearly 2,300 students. The institution’s 371 full-time faculty are highly distinguished and diverse scholars and teachers, many of whom are recipients of prestigious awards and grants from the Fulbright Program, the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the American Philosophical Society.

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