Short answer: if you could point to any leading business school that would, on principle, not recruit someone with an MSc in engineering then perhaps you would have a point. However, I don't think that's the case.

Long answer: I'm a final-year PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh. I have an undergrad in theology and a masters in informatics. The issue isn't the discipline of your degree, but whether it seems that you are the sort of person who could complete a good PhD at the school in question. What really matter are variables like: are you a dilligent student; is the school able to supervise the topic you want to research; do you have an idea of what you want to research which in some way sounds like a viable PhD; do you have an idea of the current literature; and so on. The average MBA does not prepare students for these questions any more than an MEng, because neither typically involved original research or critical engagement with current journals. My business school has several MEng students as PhD students and alumni. I don't think that's very unusual.

UIBS is definitely NOT accredited by the Ministry of Education in any country they operate. If you ask them for the accreditation, you will get a sheet that says the following thing:
" Our program does not strictly follow local educational models, and the local campuses of the school are considered as non-regulated higher education under a constitutional freedom to organize education, and the private certificates and degrees awarded by the school may therefore not provide access to government employment, regulated professions, or further studies at other or public institutions"....." Admission requirements for study programs are set by each institution independently. Although many of our students have continued their education at other institutions around the world, it should be noted that many public institutions MAY NOT considered students with qualifications from private institutions such as ours, and that many institutions with academically oriented programs may not consider students who graduated from professionally oriented study programs, such as ours." Students need to be aware that business schools like UIBS or European University (Eu business Schools) are not recognized by any Ministry of Education. It is true that most "business schools" like these are accredited by ACBSP, but their diplomas are not official . My personal opinion is that ACBSP gives accreditation just so that school can run the business legally, but it is far from regulated schools. So, students with thie degree who want to go to any public university or working in public sector will not be accepted. If you want to continue studying at some other private institution, you will be fine, as long as you pay.

ACSBP does not give any sort of legal status. It just give marketing support. Nor is it only public bodies that will look for legal standing as a university. All respected private universities have legal accreditation to issue degrees, including Harvard, HEC, Bocconi etc. UIBS degrees will not be taken seriously by any expert hirer of MBAs.

[Edited by Duncan on Sep 30, 2017]

The European Court just backed the Flemish government's case against UIBS https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium-education/60098/european-court-stops-belgian-business-school-issuing-masters-degrees/

For me, even their website is marked as scam. https://i.imgur.com/xA5hBiv.png

Imagine all the students that have been scammed by this. It must be thousands.

This is why people should stick to schools with international accreditation.
Or at the very minimum, schools that appear in a major undergraduate ranking (although this is not good measure of MBA quality, as a general rule universities in ranking lists like US news, Times etc... are actual, real universities! )

This is why people should stick to schools with international accreditation.
Or at the very minimum, schools that appear in a major undergraduate ranking (although this is not good measure of MBA quality, as a general rule universities in ranking lists like US news, Times etc... are actual, real universities! )

Hi guys,
Thank to this thread, my suspicion regarding UIBS accreditation were confirmed. I was initially considering the part time program. However, I'm a bit puzzled by the fact that reputed rankings such as QS still lists UIBS the univeristy. Can anyone share their thoughts on this?

Link: https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/mba-rankings/europe/2019

I was trying to shortlist universities for part time budget MBA based on the QS rankings but now I'm a bit stumped

I think of the QS as a last resort, but I do find it odd too. I guess it means UIBS submits data.

Rush, I suggest you start a new thread about your part time MBA search.

I was shocked to see that UIBS is still accredited by one of the third-tier accreditation bodies, IABCE. I think that simply shows how important it is to know who is accrediting the unknwn school you just heard of. https://iacbe.org/accreditation/member-status-information/results/?BCountry=Switzerland&BState=&BStatus=&BAlpha=

Hi, could you post a new opinion about uibs. They are still on the QS ranking and have obtained an ACBSP and EBCE accreditation. We can also find them on the CHEA site, in their accredited program database. The ACBSP at least seems to be valid and have some value. they also got a bunch of other stuff, but don't know what it's worth, could be bullshit.But most of them seems to be quite recent. So an update on your thoughts of today about it would be welcome.


thanks a lot,

[Edited by romanmmm on Oct 03, 2023]

EBCE is a joke. ACBSP is essentially the same as IABCE: the businesses are founded by the same guy and have mailboxes within walking distance. I have no idea what your goals are but UIBS is not the best choice.