Two ESIC masters accredited by EFMD for the first time

The European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) has recently awarded the prestigious EPAS accreditation to two of ESIC’s most well-known Masters at an international level: the International MBA (IMBA) and the Master in Marketing Management (MIM). With this distinction, ESIC becomes the first business school to have graduate programes with such an award and one of only five business schools in Spain that has obtained EFMD academic accreditation.

"For ESIC it is an honour to have achieved the EPAS accreditation for the two Masters. The accreditation process has helped us to strengthen these two programes and enhance the different areas of the school, which will undoubtedly enable us to offer our students a better experience. This award contributes to strengthening the position of our school at an international level and to increasing the employability of our graduates”, said Simon Reyes Martínez Córdova, Honorary President of ESIC and Chairman of the governing board of the business school.

EPAS is an international programe accreditation system operated by EFMD aiming to evaluate the quality of programes in the field of business management with an international perspective. It was launched in 2005 and since then it has had a great impact on the quality of business schools programes worldwide. With this award recently granted to these two masters – IMBA and MIM – ESIC becomes the first business school to have graduate programes with this distinction and one of only five business schools in Spain that features an EFMD academic accreditation.

A few years back, ESIC started the International MBA, a Masters for professionals seeking a global career, in collaboration with the Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) (50% of the programe is taught in Shanghai; thanks to this, students receive a double degree: the International MBA (IMBA) from ESIC and the MBA from Shanghai International Studies University (SISU)).

In fact, the International MBA from ESIC is the first programe which was developed jointly in Europe and China, as well as the first Chinese MBA with double degree open to foreign nationals. Hence, all students taking part in this programe, apart from benefiting from a stay in the Chinese capital, can have access to the professional advice given by ESIC and SISU Careers Department, as well as to their job bank at the end of the programe.

On the other hand, the Master in Marketing Management (MIM), taught entirely in English, is one of the oldest graduate marketing programes in Europe, launched fifteen years ago. It is an innovative programe that includes a stay in London and tries to address current market challenges.

Students taking this Masters have two options to complement their professional development:

1. To strengthen their international experience through a stay in China, including visits to international Chinese companies, seminars and presentations by Chinese businessmen and teachers, as well as meetings with partners to explore joint opportunities and visits to cultural and historical sites.
2. To obtain, after completion of the programe, the Chartered Postgraduate Diploma from the Chartered Institute of marketing (CIM), the world's largest professional organization in marketing and sales with over 40,000 members throughout the world.

The EPAS accreditation operated by EFMD is one of the best and most complete ways to certify the quality of a business school, which involves an extensive self-evaluation by the school itself and leads to excellence and continuous quality improvement linked to the strategy, vision and leadership of the business school.

In February 2015, the "QS Return on Investment Report European Full-Time MBA" placed ESIC MBA students at the forefront in Europe in terms of employability and return on investment, ranking as the school providing MBA programes at the best quality–price ratio within Europe.