In its report, the international committee that evaluated the Estonian Business School (EBS) highlighted several strengths of the university, as well as recommendations for further development. The accreditation panel found EBS to be an institution growing in confidence and maturity, showing strong responsiveness to student feedback, and to external evaluations in general.
The committee highlighted that EBS has been able to elevate their proportion of international students. The important foundation for this endeavour are the significant number of programmes taught in English. The School has also been able to attract senior faculty from abroad. The panel also brought out that the study programmes at EBS are evaluated positively, and their practical relevance has been in evidence for a number of years.
At the same time, the panel found a number of areas for improvement. For example, the committee believed that the university should continue to work to strengthen research and its support processes, and to secure funding for research and development. In addition, the experts pointed out that there is a lack of coherence between the subjects and the curriculum as a whole, and that the assessment methods are not always in line with the intended learning outcomes.
EBS Rector Professor Meelis Kitsing commented that the very good results in all the assessed standards are a high recognition for the university. „The seven-year accreditation confirms the excellent quality of our finance and management education, where the Estonian Business School combines teaching with the needs of entrepreneurs and society – despite the rules of the game, which are strongly inclined towards tuition-free education.“ He added that the assessment committee's feedback contributes to the goals of EBS to create new value in research and teaching by linking them more closely to the challenges facing both business and society.
Heli Mattisen, the head of EKKA, said that EBS is a good example of a learning organization where the results of various external evaluations and feedback from target groups are purposefully applied in development activities. „An honest and self-critical view in the mirror and the improvement activities planned on its basis – this is how the self-evaluation report of EBS can be summarized, which was also praised by the Quality Assessment Council for Higher Education,“ she said.
All higher education institutions operating in Estonia must undergo institutional accreditation at least once every seven years. Institutional accreditation is an external evaluation which assesses the conformity of a university’s management, work procedures, study and research activities and study and research environment to legislation and the goals and development plan of the university. The accreditation is carried out by an international expert committee. Based on their report, the accreditation decision is made by the Quality Assessment Council for Higher Education at EKKA. Estonian Business School was accredited the for the first time in 2013. Check out the evaluation decisions and reports here.
