Established in 1916, AACSB International set criteria for accreditation of schools of business three years later. In 1980, it began offering accreditation to accounting programs. The organization instituted a peer review process in 1991. As of 2009, the association had more than 1,100 member institutions worldwide. AACSB International membership does not guarantee AACSB International accreditation; as of September 2009, 570 members held accreditation. As of 2009, the association had not implemented a separate, formal accreditation process specifically and exclusively for distance-learning programs; online programs are awarded accreditation based upon the established qualifications for a traditional, on-campus MBA program.
A January 2007 article in BizEd Magazine, "Going the Distance," detailed how two-thirds of the nation's MBA population comprised part-time students. An increasing number of business schools focus on providing more flexibility for these part-time students. As of October 2009, according to U.S. News & World Report, there were 128 distance-learning MBA programs in the United States.
Distance learning---programs offered exclusively online or mostly online with some traditional classroom sessions---can be both a cost-effective approach for the educational institutions and offer great convenience for the part-time student. According to the BizEd article, successful distant-learning faculty members treat their online class less like a classroom and more like a seminar room. "In the virtual venue, they serve as role models and orchestrate the learning process by acting as coaches or mentors," the article states.
According to U.S. News & World Report, as of October 2009, there were 55 distance-learning MBA programs accredited by AACSB International; 17 of those are not fully online because they require a portion of the coursework to be completed in a traditional, on-campus classroom.
In its July 2007 report, Quality Issues in Distant Learning, AACSB International addressed several areas of concern regarding distance learning. Among its many recommendations for people considering an online MBA, the association advised students to check if the program, or the school offering it, is accredited; what the admission requirements are; how the online classwork is delivered to students; what kind of academic support services are available; if any required software is provided by the school; what technical support is available; the average amount of time it takes to complete the online program and the percentage of students who complete it; what the tuition and fees cover; how long the school has been offering distance learning; and the school's policies for reimbursing tuition or fees upon withdraw from the program.