Hi all,
Does anyone have any comments or feedback about MBA program from Geneva business school in UAE?

I am a software engineer and would like to get an MBA degree for career and knowledge expansion without the need to spend a fortune.

Would love to hear from you.

Thanks,
Abdullah

I cannot see any reason to buy a "MBA' from a business that does not have the legal right to issue degrees, and is not recognised as a university in its own country. If you can afford an MBA with meaningful accreditation, then do that. If not, take a course with a respected university.

I cannot see any reason to buy a "MBA' from a business that does not have the legal right to issue degrees, and is not recognised as a university in its own country. If you can afford an MBA with meaningful accreditation, then do that. If not, take a course with a respected university.

No, that is not a legal MBA. Take a look at http://find-mba.com/mba-faq/mba-accreditation-why-is-it-important and you will see the three accreditation bodies that matter. I don't know what you consider affordable, but search the discussion board for UAE or Dubai and you will see the local options, or use the MBA search in the menu above. For distance learning, Bradford and Illinois are inexpensive options.

Thanks Duncan, between these two (Bradford and Illinois) which one do you recommend and why?

[Edited by a.malaka on Nov 10, 2015]

I think there are lots of very good online MBAs with international accreditation. Bradford is one of those with a local presence in the UAE, along with Strathclyde, Cass, LBS and others. I think that will give you a better local network and strong learning support. Illinois is a world-class university, and great value at $20,000, but the learning support might not be so great.

I cannot see any reason to buy a "MBA' from a business that does not have the legal right to issue degrees, and is not recognised as a university in its own country. If you can afford an MBA with meaningful accreditation, then do that. If not, take a course with a respected university.

Uhh, have you seen Duncan's post history? His insight certainly qualifies him as an expert.

Avii, I encourage you to post here so people can see how wrong I am :)

Seriously, in terms of state accreditation. In Switzerland, the school is not state-recognized as a university. Prior to 2015, it was not accredited by the Swiss OAQ. The OQQ's successor, The Swiss Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance (AAQ) replaced the OAQ on 1 January 2015: it also does not accredit GBS. However, the Swiss quality label for non-degree, further education institutions EduQua has certified Geneva Business School.

In 2015, GBS claimed that it had obtained Geneva cantonal authorizations to operate in 2001 and in 2002. This statement is no longer on the school's website.

The United States Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) website does not note GBS as accredited by any US government-recognized Accrediting Organization.

In Russia, Geneva Business School is not recognized as a higher education institution by the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (National Information Center on Academic Recognition and Mobility from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation).

In Germany, The University of Business & Finance Switzerland (UBFS) of Wettingen which has transferred its programs into Geneva Business School had the status of H- Nichtanerkannte Institution in the German Anabin database, indicating it is not accredited as university nor recognized.

[Edited by Duncan on Aug 06, 2018]

looks like an expensive diploma mill

Éduqua is an accreditation body for further education, below the degree level, rather than for higher education. I am simply making the point that GBS is not accredited as a degree-awarding body.

Éduqua is an accreditation body for further education, below the degree level, rather than for higher education. I am simply making the point that GBS is not accredited as a degree-awarding body.

[Edited by K07 on Sep 22, 2018]

Dear Duncan,

What about this?

IACBE Official Website GBS accreditation certificate:
https://www.chea.org/international-assembly-collegiate-business-education

CHEA Official Website IACBE as recognised body by CHEA and GBS also listed:
https://www.chea.org/international-assembly-collegiate-business-education

https://www.chea.org/programmatic-accrediting-organizations#assembly

https://www.chea.org/sites/default/files/other-content/directory-CHEA-recognized-orgs_10.pdf
(page 17 for your easy finding)

https://www.chea.org/international-assembly-collegiate-business-education
(Page 23-24 for your easy finding)

Im not expert as you are but according to all this evidences looks like GBS accredited is it? Or these websites are fake?

Best.

Every school is accredited by someone. My points in this thread are that GBS:
- does not have the legal right to issue degrees and
- is not recognised as a university in its own country.
- Applicants should take a look at http://find-mba.com/mba-faq/mba-accreditation-why-is-it-important to see the three accreditation bodies for MBA schools that really matter. IACBE is not one of those.

Nor is IACBE is the organisation that controls the ability of Swiss universities to issue degrees. That organisation is AAQ. Indeed, neither is IACBE an organisation that controls the ability of universities in *any* country to issue degrees. It is a programmatic accreditor. It accredits individual programmes as meeting its criteria for application, but does not, and cannot, conver the right to issue degrees.

So, yes, every school is accredited by someone. But some matter more and others matter less.

[Edited by Duncan on Sep 23, 2018]

By the way K07, do you happen to be a friend of Avii, the guy from GBS who asked me to get in touch with him. I wrote to him the same day, and he never replied.

I understand that GBS employees need to defend the school but, obviously, I am not mistaken. It has never held accreditation as a degree-awarding body from the Swiss state.

IACBE is a grand sounding name, but this is an business with fewer staff than you have toes (http://iacbe.org/about-page/staff/), and only one of the seven seens to actually work on accrediation. One person for 237 schools. Obviously, they won't have even visited all the campuses, let alone verified the quality of education. The $1,700 fee gives you an idea of how in-depth this accreditation must be.

This company accredits schools that cannot get AASCB accredition. The founder, John Green, also established an accrediation company called ACBSP with the same business model.

By the way K07, do you happen to be a friend of Avii, the guy from GBS who asked me to get in touch with him. I wrote to him the same day, and he never replied.

I understand that GBS employees need to defend the school but, obviously, I am not mistaken. It has never held accreditation as a degree-awarding body from the Swiss state.

CHEA is a marginal point, which doesn't influence the truth of the points in my first and last posts. Indeed, when I wrote that it was not listed and now it is. Even so, this is neither accreditation by the Swiss state, nor does it grant the right to issue legal degrees, nor is it one of the respected international accreditations in the triple crown.

CHEA is a useful resource, but none of the triple crown accreditations are listed by it. The AASCB, which gives accreditation to almost all the top business schools in the US, for example, is not a member. If would be a bizzare act of self harm to select GBS over an AACSB school because IACBE is in the CHEA database.

Indeed, US accredition is not the only kind. But given the broad range of MOOCs and degrees from business schools with respected international accreditions I just cannot see any reason to attend a for profit school without one.

[Edited by Duncan on Sep 23, 2018]

It's not the case that there are UK universities 'only' accredited by the Privy Council. The QAA maintains strict oversight and does close higher education institutions operating without its support. But "only" is not the right word to use about the Privy Council. That is a higher body than our Parliament which, with the Queen's permission, can suspend the Parliament and rule in its place. Good people to have on your side. Even so, I don't think there are any above-average schools in the UK operating without one or more of the triple crown accreditations.

It’s all about what you want at the end of your education! If you would like to be live and work in US yes you may choose one of them to study! Or who ever issuing AASCB accreditation! If you need just education or good education or do not want to be Iin US to use it for any reason and if you are trusting where you are studying that will give you what you want it doesn’t matter which accreditation has your degree or US government recognised or not!