6.1 The school has policies and procedures for admissions, acceptance of transfer credit, academic progression toward degree completion, and support for career development that are clear, effective, consistently applied, and aligned with the school's mission, strategies, and expected outcomes.
6.2 Post-graduation success is consistent with the school's mission, strategies, and expected outcomes. Public disclosure of academic program quality supporting learner progression and post-graduation success occurs on a current and consistent basis.
Basis for Judgment
6.1 Admissions, Progression, Degree Completion, and Career Development Support
• Policies and procedures related to degree program admission are clear, effective, and transparent and are aligned with the school's mission, strategies, and expected outcomes.
• Normally, graduate business degree program admission criteria should include the expectation that applicants have or will earn a bachelor's degree prior to admission to the graduate program. The school should be prepared to document how exceptions support quality.
• The school defines and broadly disseminates its policies for evaluating, awarding, and accepting transfer credits or courses from other institutions. These policies should ensure that the academic work accepted from other institutions is comparable to the academic work required for the school's own degree programs.
• Apart from collaborative provision programs, normally the majority of learning in business disciplines that count toward degree fulfillment (as determined by credits, contact hours, or other metrics) is earned through the institution awarding the degree. In this context, business disciplines do not include general education courses but do include courses in the major, required business courses, and business electives.15
• The school prepares and supports learners to ensure academic progression toward degree completion, including clear and effective academic performance standards and processes, consistent with degree program competency goals.
• High-quality advising services are available to students on a consistent and timely basis.
• Strategies are employed to identify and provide intervention and support for learners who are not progressing adequately, including underrepresented or otherwise at-risk populations. Learner support services, including academic assistance and advising, career advising and placement, alumni relations, public relations, fundraising, and admissions, as well as other mission-related activities, are appropriate and available with a high degree of service-mindedness for appropriate consumers of these services.
• The school provides effective career development support for learners and graduates that is consistent with degree program expectations and the school's mission, strategies, and expected outcomes.
6.2 Academic Program Quality and Post-Graduation Success
• The school has post-graduation employment data, graduate school attendance data, or other measures, as available to the school, that indicate post-graduate success.
• In addition to public disclosure information required by national or regional accreditors, schools provide readily accessible, reliable, and easily understandable information to the public on the performance of their business students, including learner achievement information and overall program quality, as determined by the school.
Suggested Documentation
6.1 Admissions, Progression, Degree Completion, and Career Development Support
• Describe admissions policies and processes and demonstrate that they are consistent with program expectations, aligned with the school's mission, and transparent to all participants.
• If an exception to the school's admission and/or progression policies is made, provide justification and the basis for doing so.
• Describe the school's policies governing the acceptance of transfer credit and how quality is assured for transfer credit.
• Describe academic advising services available to learners.
• Describe how appropriate interventions are undertaken when learners are failing to thrive or progress toward successful and timely degree completion, including learners from underrepresented or otherwise at-risk populations.
• Describe any information technologies used to support admissions, academic progression, and career development.
• Describe processes in place to support career development activities such as career counseling, career days, workshops, career fairs, etc.
6.2 Post-Graduation Success
• Document post-graduate learner success. Success may be defined in a variety of outcomes besides traditional employment in a business field. Examples of such information include, but are not limited to, graduation rates, job placement outcomes, certification or licensure exam results, employment advancement, internships, entrepreneurial activity, and activity with positive societal impact, as well as case examples of successful graduates.
• School's provide relevant and timely public disclosure data documenting overall academic program quality. This information should be available on the accredited unit's website, where it is clearly displayed and distinguishable from university amalgamated data. Disclosures are not prescriptive but are informed by the school's mission, strategies, and expected outcomes, and may include post-graduate learner success outcomes, admission data, retention and time-to-degree data, diversity and inclusion advances, particular program emphases, student learning outcomes, rankings data, experiential learning opportunities, meaningful societal impact, or other mission-specific outcomes.