There are few topics as misunderstood and debated as accreditation. In fact, this kind of confusion is what some less than reputable online schools have depended on when "selling" their particular degree offerings while claiming accreditation from agencies that are unrecognized by the Department of Education or the CHEA. But just to throw some clarity on the situation, let's look at Business Accreditation, which is frequently known as "national accreditation" or "industry accreditation" by HR types. However do not confuse these accrediting agencies with the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) or similar agencies as these business accrediting agencies are specific to the science of business and only business, thus they accredit a program, not necessarily a school. Confused yet?
First on the block is the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). This accrediting agency is the first business accrediting agency and is generally considered to be the most prestigious, though this is an area of contention depending upon who you are and what your criteria is. The AACSB accredits top 10, Tier 1 schools such as Harvard University, Duke University, Cornell University, Columbia University and a few of those listed on eLearners such as Drexel or Boston University. The AACSB has a solid reputation in the business world and is generally regarded as the industry standard for business accreditation. If you are considering an AACSB school, you generally will never have to worry about whether or not your school will meet various standards of quality in the eyes of industry and hiring managers in general. I would consider the AACSB to be a business practitioner's accreditation. This is a CHEA recognized agency. http://www.aacsb.edu/
Second on the docket is the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs. (ACBSP). Don't you love all of these acronyms and how similar they sound to one another? No wonder people get confused. The ACBSP is primarily concerned with business education. Again this is a perfectly legitimate national accreditation agency, just like the AACSB is, but the ACBSP is generally not held in as high of regard as the AACSB. Look for schools like University of Phoenix or Friends University here, not the likes of Columbia and Harvard. So are these guys substandard? In my opinion no, just a different focus. The ACBSP is more of a teacher's accreditation, focusing upon accrediting the teaching and learning out comes of member institutions. This is a CHEA recognized agency. http://www.acbsp.org/index.php?module=sthtml&op=load&sid=s1_001
Lastly there is the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE). This accrediting agency is kind of like the ACBSP in that they are primarily concerned with excellence in business education, again what I would call a teacher's accreditation. Look for schools like Bellevue University and Fisk University. The IACBE is the new kid on the block founded in 1997. As such there are not as many member institutions as the ACBSP nor do they have the history of the AACSB. They are currently in process to become recognized by the CHEA but until that time, they are a distant third in line for business accreditation behind the ACBSP and AACSB. Personally I have confidence that they will eventually gain that recognition, but that's pure speculation on my part. http://www.iacbe.org/
So where does this lead us? Well, personally I don't believe that in most instances that a "nationally" accredited program will be required for employment for a business grad save maybe for the teaching professions. Outside of academia I find that school reputation supersedes national accreditation almost every time. That being said however I do see the sense in guaranteeing an agreed upon set of standards for business instruction, which is where national accrediting agencies like the ones mentioned above come into play. An employer who is familiar with their standards will know what skills to expect from an applicant from an ACBSP, AACSB or IACBE school. The quality standards are more tangible when outlined and reviewed by an independent program specific 3rd party, much like school accreditation agencies.
So in review:
AACSB = the oldest, most respected and possibly the best known business accrediting agency there is.
ACBSP = not as highly thought of (in most circles) as the AACSB, but still quite legitimate and certainly respectable.
IACBE = recognized by some, not by others until they fulfill CHEA recognition, but generally considered better than nothing. They are making a real effort at being a viable alternative but as of now are a distant third behind the other two.
My personal thoughts on the matter:
In most instances regarding employment, except for maybe teaching, national program specific accreditation will not come into play nearly as often as school accreditation such as the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) vs. any of the six regional accrediting agencies such as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). In fact national program accreditation is somewhat redundant for schools which already have accreditation recognized by both the Department of Education and the CHEA, however there are some agencies where program specific accreditation also governs the ability to gain a practitioner's license, such as the American Bar Association. Fortunately I do not believe that this will ever be the case for business which basically means that national accreditation is purely voluntary and not particularly necessary for most occasions.
In my brief time studying whether or not to attend an AACSB or ACBSP school I found that the accreditation, while nice to have, would not be particularly useful for my situation as I have found very few employers who:
A.) Understand accreditation to the extent to be able to identify the differences between school and program specific accreditation and
B.) Care enough to specifically require such qualifications of their applicants.
The one instance where I can recall seeing this as a requirement was for an executive posting for a job as a Chief Financial Officer of a fortune 500 company, of which I am in no danger of ever being considered for and likely, neither are you.
So in conclusion, is it necessary? Not really, no. Would it be nice to have? Sure if you don't have to go too far out of your way to get it.
Now regional accreditation vs. national (school) accreditation? Well, that's a whole different topic altogether.