Acton School of Business

The Acton School of Business is a school for entrepreneurship located in Austin, Texas. Offering a full-time program, the school is based on experiential learning. Students analyze business case studies and participate in simulations, such as building real assembly lines and selling products door to door.

Acton originally offered an accelerated MBA program in Austin from 2002 to 2019. The school was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs through Hardin-Simmons University. Due to funding cuts at Hardin-Simmons, Acton lost its accreditation with SACS and closed its Austin campus, but reopened in Madrid, Spain, and is accredited though Universidad Francisco Marroquin. It has maintained its one year, 100 hour week course model and all classes are taught in English.

History

Acton grew out of the curriculum developed by the Acton Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence (AFEE). Founded by billionaire Jeff Sandefer, an entrepreneur and then-teacher at the University of Texas, AFEE was created to publish entrepreneurship cases and notes and spread entrepreneurship curriculum to schools across the United States. While at UT, Sandefer was ranked one of the top ten entrepreneurship professors in the country by '' BusinessWeek''. In 2002, Sandefer and fellow teachers Phil Siegel, Vaughn Brock and Jack Long left the University of Texas over a dispute about the future of the program. After their final class attracted 130 students, they decided to use the curriculum to launch a free-standing business school and founded the Acton School of Business. Acton graduated its first class in 2004. The school derives its name from Lord Acton, a 19th-century scholar and originator of the famous quote "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

In October 2018, due to a loss of funding, Hardin-Simmons University ended a number of programs. This included closure of its Acton MBA Program campus extension, which terminated Acton's accreditation after 2019. Acton has since moved from Austin to Madrid, Spain and is accredited through Universidad Francisco Marroquin.

In December 2018, the school accepted applications for the Peterson Fellowship in association with Jordan Peterson for the class of December 2019.

Program

Using case reviews, Socratic discussions, exercises and business simulations, Acton offers its MBA entrepreneurship program in under a year. Unlike traditional MBA programs, Acton offers only a core curriculum with no additional elective courses. The cost of tuition (totaling $60,000 in 2019) includes all fees and course materials.

The average undergraduate GPA of an admitted student is 3.3, the average age is 30 (median is 29), and the average GMAT score is 637. Most students have about four to six years of work experience on enrollment.

In 2009, Sandefer and his wife Laura founded Acton Academy, a system of charter schools that use the Socratic method and similar philosophies to the Acton MBA program. There are now over 300 Acton Academies worldwide.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni from Acton include Adelle Archer, CEO and founder of Eterneva, which received an investment from Mark Cuban on Shark Tank; U.S. Olympic team member Trey Hardee; and Rep. David Eastman (R) of the Alaska House of Representatives.

References

External links

The Acton School of Business

The Acton Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence

Acton Academy

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acton School Of Business
Business schools in Texas
Educational institutions established in 2002
Private universities and colleges in Texas
Universities and colleges in Austin, Texas
2002 establishments in Texas