The History of Montpellier Business School

Discover MBS in several key dates

MBS is one of the oldest management schools in Europe. Here are the milestones in its history

1897 Creation of the ESC Montpellier by the CCI of Montpellier.
1899 Creation of the Alumni Association, “MBS Alumni”.
1915 MBS becomes the first French business school to welcome young women in its classes
1917 A female student graduates Major of her class
1993 MBS joins the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles
1994 Launch of the Executive MBA programme
1997 Introduction of work-study programs for students of the Grande Ecole programme
2000 Creation of the Bachelor of International Business Administration
2002 The Bachelor programme is recognised by the French State
2003 Creation of the ICORE Research Centre (International Center for Research and Education).
2004 Launch of e-learning and blended learning in the programmes offered by the school
2007
- Creation of the MBS Foundation, under the aegis of the Fondation de France.
- Signature of the 10 principles of the Global Compact (United Nations Global Compact)
2008 Signature of the Diversity Charter
2009
- Montpellier Business School becomes the first higher education institution to receive the Diversity® label (AFNOR).
- Signature of the “Principles for Responsible Management Education” (PRME)
2010 MBS achieves EFMD – EPAS accreditation
2011
- MBS obtains AACSB accreditation
- Creation of the Montpellier Research In Management (MRM), the first research centre in management sciences in the south of France, in collaboration with the universities of Montpellier. The MRM has more than 100 doctoral students and professors in management sciences and management.
- Launch of the CGE accredited BADGE® Executive Education programmes.
2012 The MBS Executive MBA programme achieves the AMBA accreditation
2013 Creation of Montpellier Business School DAKAR. MBS becomes a non-profit association under the French law of 1901.
2014 Signature of the LGBT+ Charter (L’Autre Cercle)
2015 Signature of the “Entreprises et Quartiers” Charter (Companies and Neighbourhoods)
2016 Renewal of EPAS and AACSB accreditations for 5 years. Launch of the MBS Masters of Science®.
2017
- Montpellier Business School receives the qualification of “Etablissement d’Enseignement Supérieur Privé d’Intérêt Général” (EESPIG) from the French government, as a guarantee of the absolute non-profit nature of its activities.
- Montpellier Business School is the first higher education institution to be awarded the Professional Equality between Women and Men® label (AFNOR).
- Launch of the MBS DBA programme
2019
- MBS obtains EQUIS accreditation
- The Grande Ecole Programme obtains AMBA accreditation
- MBS gets ministerial endorsement for its Bachelor’s degree
- 10-year anniversary of receiving the Diversity® label
2020
- Launch of the Bachelor in Business Administration in Dakar
- Montpellier Business School becomes “MBS”
2021
- Renewal of AACSB accreditation for 5 years
- The MBS Bachelor degree is granted the “Licence degree”
2021 Renewal of the Diversity and Professional Equality Labels (Afnor)