Business education in the Arab region: accreditation and pricing in the case of Lebanon

Abstract

PurposeAccreditation as a mean to improve the position of the university has become one of the major illustration of non-price competition. Three major accreditation bodies, known as the “big three”, dominate the market of business schools’ accreditation in the world, namely, AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA. This paper aims to explore the current of accreditation of business schools in Lebanon, and to test for the difference of tuition fees between accredited institutions by any of the “big three” and other business schools.Design/methodology/approachUsing a desktop research approach, the paper provides the list of the accredited business schools from the “big three” in the Arab region and Lebanon and compiles data about the number of business schools in Lebanon since 1960, their tuition fees, and their accreditation status. Using a parametric and nonparametric procedure, the paper compares the tuition mean difference between accredited and non-accredited business schools.FindingsThe paper reveals an alarming slow progress in the Arab world when it comes to accreditation. In Lebanon, the paper finds that only seven out of 37 business schools are accredited and only three hold an accreditation from the “big three”. The two samples t-test and the Mann–Whitney U-test show that accredited schools charge tuition fees that are three times the average of other schools.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper can be improved by using a larger sample and investigate the effect of accreditation on tuition fees.Practical implicationsThe results highlight the existence of a gap when it comes to accreditation in the Arab region and the importance of policy-making in promoting accreditation. Moreover, business schools in Lebanon should be aware that accreditation with the “big three” could be associated with substantial increase in tuition fees.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to investigate the state of accreditation of business schools in Lebanon and its association with tuition fees.