Established by PMI in 2001, the Global Accreditation Center for Project Management (GAC) acts as the sole governing body for the policies, procedures and standards for accrediting project management programs at the bachelor, master and doctoral degree levels. The discipline of project management has increasingly become more recognized within the academic world over the past 20 years.

In 1994, there were only two bachelor and nine master level project management degrees — primarily in construction management — identified. By 2007, the number had grown to over 360 degree programs at 250 institutions worldwide. The degree also has broadened to encompass construction management, business management, engineering, architecture and information technology. This growing interest in the profession signaled a need for higher standards in project management education — thus, the establishment of GAC Program in 2001.

The GAC confers accreditation only upon the degree programs within institutions that meet the accreditation standards defined in the GAC Handbook of Accreditation - Second Edition (revised October 2008).

View a list of PMI GAC Accredited Degree or Candidate Degree programs.

Find out about the GAC Academic Network 

GAC Mission

To advance excellence in project management worldwide through collaboration with and support of academic institutions and accreditation of academic programs.

Fundamental Purposes of GAC Accreditation

• • To assure the quality of project management degree programs
• • To promote greater professionalism in project management

GAC Board

The primary function of the GAC Board is to administer and maintain policies and procedures for accrediting degree programs related to project management. Responsibilities include:

• • Making any final decisions regarding the accreditation of a degree program
• • Developing and improving the accreditation standards and guidelines
• • Developing policies, procedures, onsite visit processes and other items to support accreditation of degree programs
• • Setting the fees for the accreditation process

Board members may serve as many as two consecutive three-year terms. The GAC Board aims to strike a member balance of geography and of professional and academic individuals.

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The 2008 GAC Board Members are: