CU Bloomsburg’s Zeigler College of Business is currently not accredited under the AACSB. 

Students in the business college who graduate this spring will not graduate with an accredited degree. 

The student response

“I think it’s kind of a disappointment,” says Stefano Albarracin, a junior accounting student.

Albarracin is a transfer student from Northampton Community College. He explains that when he was looking at schools to transfer to, Bloomsburg originally wasn’t one of his first choices. However, the business college’s reputation is what got him to choose Bloomsburg over other schools.

“Affordability was a factor, but it had a great reputation and the fact that it was taken away before I graduated is kind of a huge upset,” Albarracin said.

When asked what his thoughts were on students graduating without an accredited degree, Albarracin said “I think in a sense they’re being robbed… If you could say that you had a degree from an accredited business program, it might give you a leg up. The fact that students can’t receive that anymore, it seems like a betrayal to the school or students.”

The background

In February, an email was sent out to the Bloomsburg business college community explaining there is a change in accreditation status.

The email describes that The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), is an optional level of standards that evaluates practices across curriculum, teaching and research within a business college. About 5-6% of business schools worldwide have this accreditation.

Due to integration, Bloomsburg University lost accreditation on specific programs. 

“What happened was that certain programs at Bloomsburg University were accredited… you cannot transfer AACSB accreditation” says Peter Campbell, Interim Dean of the Zeigler College of Business, “once we merged and integrated, you couldn’t transfer it from Bloomsburg University to Commonwealth University.” 

The future of the business college’s accreditation 

Campbell explains that the University is actively trying to get the accreditation back, now under CU. 

The following programs are under consideration for accreditation:

• Management 
• Marketing
• Finance
• Accounting

It was also mentioned that they are looking into adding sports management onto that list. 

What this means for students

CU is still offering the same programs, courses and professors. 

“We’re still providing the same quality that we can with the resources we have, and ultimately our goal is to apply and to achieve the AACSB accreditation as quickly as possible,” says Campbell.