Accreditation and rankings

Study at a business school confirmed in the top 1% globally.

Waikato Management School is proud to have held Triple Crown Accreditation since 2005. The international benchmark of excellence in business education puts us in an elite group comprised of the top 1% of all business schools globally.

Triple Crown Accreditation means that we are accredited by AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA. Only 124 business schools worldwide — and only five in Australasia — have met the rigorous auditing standards of all three of these prestigious accreditation bodies.

Employers can feel confident that our graduates are of the highest calibre — with the personal leadership qualities and well-rounded business acumen to help shape their organisation’s future success and handle whatever challenges are thrown at them.

The Triple Crown demonstrates that our academic staff are independently recognised as experts in their field: with the ability to teach business at postgraduate levels, and the quality of their research, business contacts and consultancy activities is at an international level.

• AACSB: In 2020, Waikato Management School was successfully re-accredited by AACSB, the US-based Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, for another six years.
• EQUIS: In 2021, Waikato Management School was successfully re-accredited by EQUIS, the European Quality Improvement System, for another three years.
• AMBA: In 2022, Waikato Management School's Executive Education had its Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme re-accredited by AMBA for another five years, the maximum period of time available.

What does this mean for you?

• Your qualification is globally recognised as a practice-oriented, world-class business education.
• You are educated by experts who are assessed against international standards for their quality of teaching, research and consultancy work.
• You can leverage off the internationally regarded Triple Crown Accreditation brand name.
• Every aspect of Waikato Management School has been audited — each accreditation body assesses against different criteria.

Our Triple Crown accreditations

The US-based Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is the world's oldest and biggest business school accreditation agency. By choosing an AACSB-accredited school, students can be sure they have access to high-quality academic staff and continually updated curricula with real-world relevance that prepares them for the job market.

The European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) is the quality assurance scheme run by the European Foundation for Management Development. EQUIS aims to raise the standard of management education worldwide by facilitating standard setting, benchmarking, mutual learning, and the dissemination of good practice.

Accreditation from the London-based Association of MBAs (AMBA) means that our staff are independently recognised as experts in their ability to teach business at postgraduate level, and the quality of their research, business contacts and consultancy activities is at an international level.

Other accreditations

Our Public Relations and Leadership Communication programme was re-certified by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) in 2023, following initial certification in 2009. Waikato is one of just 45 universities in the world to have achieved PRSA accreditation for our undergraduate Public Relations programmes.