The American College Of Greece and ALBA Graduate Business School Join Forces to Create Educational Powerhouse in the Region

The American College of Greece (ACG) and ALBA Graduate Business School (ALBA) officially announce a strategic alliance that will lead to the creation of a top international educational institution in Greece. This alliance will set new standards in higher education and will become a catalyst for positive change in Greek society and beyond.

The collaboration between Europe’s largest and most historic American college and Greece’s most prestigious graduate business school has been approved by the Board of Directors and the Board of Trustees of ALBA and ACG, respectively.

The collaboration takes effect immediately and, as a consequence, ALBA will relocate to the downtown Athens campus of The American College of Greece by January 2012.

ACG and ALBA combine their strengths to pursue an ambitious growth strategy that will further consolidate their leadership positions. By joining forces, the two institutions will also become more competitive internationally and contribute to making Greece an international educational destination, especially for students from the Southeast Europe and Mediterranean regions.

In the framework of this alliance, ALBA, will continue offering its portfolio of MBA and business related MSc programs and pursuing its other activities as ALBA Graduate Business School at The American College of Greece. ACG will continue to offer undergraduate programs in business and the liberal arts and sciences, as well as graduate programs in the arts and sciences through DEREE.

The two schools — both non-profit institutions — will retain all of their existing accreditations, including ACG’s NEASC and ALBA’s AMBA and EFMD/EPAS, and will pursue jointly the ‘triple gold’ standard of business education by initiating procedures that will lead to AACSB and EQUIS accreditations.

Both institutions retain their organizational and academic autonomy, which assures a smoother transition for students, alumni and other stakeholders of the two institutions.

The ACG and ALBA collaboration will form one of the largest and certainly the most influential alumni community in Greece, numbering some 37,000 highly qualified individuals who are active in thousands of businesses and organizations, as well as in academia and public affairs, many of them in leadership positions, in Greece and abroad.

“The collaboration between ACG and ALBA is rooted in a shared vision of creating the most progressive model of graduate business education in Southeast Europe. Building on the academic and professional resources, reputations and networks of both institutions, our goal is to inspire our students, faculty, alumni and partners to re-imagine graduate business education and to revitalize the economic and entrepreneurial prospects of Greece and beyond,” said Dr. David G. Horner, President of The American College of Greece.

Professor Nickolaos Travlos, the Kitty Kyriacopoulos Chair in Finance and Dean of ALBA Graduate Business School, said: “The strategic collaboration between ACG and ALBA is going to have a long-lasting impact on Greek higher education, and more widely on the society of Greece and those of its neighboring countries. Both organizations are proud of their accomplishments and strengths, and are excited about the significant strategic synergies that will result from this collaboration. The future looks bright for students, alumni and other stakeholders of both institutions.”

For more information about the strategic collaboration and the offerings of the two institutions, please visit http://www.2schoolsunite.com

CONTACT:

HARIS DASKALOTHANASSIS
Director of Media Relations
The American College of Greece
[email protected]
+1.30.210.600.9800 ext 1435