To participate in the LIA process, the school must first obtain official LIA membership. Membership is the institutional prerequisite for accessing LIA’s services and participating in the accreditation process.

Through membership, the school gains access to accreditation guidelines, procedural information, and initial guidance on accreditation documents in accordance with LIA. Member institutions also receive priority access and special member rates for LAMEMBA International events such as conferences, workshops, and seminars. In addition, member institutions are included in the LIA membership database, may use the membership logo, and become part of the broader LIA ecosystem. Member institutions can also participate in accreditation preparatory activities organized by LIA, Workshops, and other capacity-building programs to support the accreditation process.

The Eligibility Application for LAMEMBA International Accreditation is an initial screening stage to verify that a higher education institution and its proposed programs meet essential baseline criteria before entering full accreditation. This process requires applicant schools to demonstrate compliance across fundamental operational and academic pillars, including legal authorization to award degrees, clear mission alignment, program units with existing graduates, qualified faculty engaged in teaching and research, internationalization efforts, financial sustainability, ethical governance policies, and established internal quality assurance mechanisms.

To complete this stage, the institution submits its eligibility documentation along with the required fee to the accreditation committee for evaluation. If deficiencies are found, the school is given up to 12 months to revise and resubmit its application without additional costs. Upon successful review, the institution receives formal eligibility status, an assigned mentor, and payment guidelines to advance to the next phase: preparing the Self-Evaluation Report (SER).

Mentoring aims to assist the school in preparing for the Self-Evaluation Report (SER). LIA appoints an independent international Mentor to guide the school in understanding the LAMEMBA International Standard, conducting a gap analysis, and enhancing its internal quality assurance mechanisms.
The mentoring process is developmental and aims to help the school improve its systems and documentation before the Peer Review Team (PRT) assessment. The Mentor provides advisory guidance and does not participate in accreditation decisions.
The mentoring phase runs for a maximum of two (2) years and is organized into three sequential cycles. (Full details of each cycle are provided in Section 4.3.)

Prior to the full Peer Review Team (PRT) Visit, a PRT Chair Visit is conducted as a preparatory stage.

The SER submitted by the program would be assessed by PRT.  PRT gives its expert judgment through critical analysis, highlighting areas for clarification, such as the quality of the SER, completeness of data, and analytical depth to the 7 Standards, which are essential, and helps prepare the Peer Review Visit agenda. These factors ensure a rigorous, transparent, and credible evaluation within the LAMEMBA International Accreditation.

During this visit, the school hosts the PRT to assess its alignment with the LAMEMBA International Standard and to verify the information presented in the SER. Prior to the visit, the school prepares a proposed visit schedule and coordinates with LIA to ensure that the meetings and review sessions allow the PRT to engage with relevant stakeholders.

The final accreditation decision is made by the Committee after reviewing the PRT report and other relevant evaluation documents.

The accreditation decision may result in one of the following outcomes:

No Decision Year
1 Full Accreditation 5 Year
2 Conditional Accreditation 2 Year
3 Non-Accreditation –