The University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) has once again received an A-rating as being one of the “universal business schools with major international influence” in a global survey by EDUNIVERSAL.

EDUNIVERSAL awarded the USB its Five Palms award, the highest honour to a business school, at their World Convention held in Cape Town on 26 and 27 October 2009. The USB is one of only three business schools in Africa to receive an A-rating.

The Official Selection survey is an initiative by SMBG, the leading French consultancy in student orientation and human resources, which requested an international scientific committee to select the leading 1 000 business schools in terms of the criteria of universality, international recognition and quality. EDUNIVERSAL is the first tool offering a truly universal perspective on higher education

“It is an honour to have once again received the support of such an influential global survey,” says Professor Eon Smit, director at the USB. “We have always strived to deliver a global perspective in our courses and this year we changed the way our MBA is packaged to ensure that it remains in line with top MBAs around the world.”

The A-rating, which USB also achieved in 2008, is not a ranking but is instead a selection by business school deans who vote to give their recommendations about the schools in the list.

A large group of delegates from across the world who attended the EDUNIVERSAL convention visited the USB campus during the week of the convention.

According to EDUNIVERSAL, deans in each country were asked “Which business school(s) would you recommend?” The deans were expected to answer only about those schools which they had knowledge of, thus voting for every country was not mandatory. They were also requested to make a selection, so they could not recommend more than half the business schools selected per country.

EDUNIVERSAL studied 4 000 websites and dozens of publications to enlighten the choice of its International Scientific Committee. As a result of this work, the Official Selection gives a large panorama of higher education in the fields of management and business administration.

Prof Smit, who is a member of the International Scientific Committee of EDUNIVERSAL, hosted a meeting of this committee at the USB campus in Cape Town.

The 1 000 business schools selected are spread over 150 countries which cover 97% of the world’s population. Most of all, they were selected on the strength of their international and national influence and recognition.

The USB is the first and only South African business school to hold two international quality accreditations: EQUIS from the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and AMBA from the Association of MBAs.

It is also the only member of the European Doctoral Association in Management and Business Administration (EDAMBA) outside Europe. This accreditation is based on the quality of its PhD programme. The USB is also a member of the USA-based Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

The USB was recently announced as having placed in the top 40 of the 100 leading business schools in the world, according to the Aspen Institute’s 2009-10 edition of its alternative Beyond Grey Pinstripes survey. The USB was also the only school in Africa to be included in the Top 100 list.