American Institute of Banking Has Never Offered Master’s Degree in Banking and Finance

Monrovia – Liberian activist Martin K.N Kollie in a recent Facebook post claimed that the institute that Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor obtained her Master’s Degree in Banking and Finance (as published on the Executive Mansion website) does not offer degrees, he added that the “AIB has never been a degree granting institution”.

Fact Check Report By: Varney Kelvin Sirleaf | LVL Fact Checker

So, we checked if the claim by Mr. Kollie that the “AIB has never been a degree granting institution” is correct.

Giving the magnitude of the claim, LVL first reviewed the Vice President’s resume published on the Executive Mansion website. There, the autobiography of Vice President Howard-Taylor states that she earned a Master’s Degree in Banking and Finance from the AIB as an honor graduate.

When LVL checked, we found that the AIB was launched in 1907 by the American Bankers Association to bring bank employees together for education and social purposes. Now, the AIB no longer independently exists. Until 2014 when it integrated with the American Bankers Association (ABA), the AIB offered series of correspondent courses through local state chapters but did not offer degree.

In our quest to further verified the claim, we emailed the ABA inquiring about the degree programs offered by the AIB during its existence.

A screenshot of the email sent to the AIB by LVL Fact Checking Desk

The reply from the customer support team of ABA reads: “Thank you for contacting the American Bankers Association. The American Institute of Banking (AIB) no longer exists. The institute was integrated into ABA. We offer training courses and certifications. AIB only offered diplomas and certificates. We did not offer any degree programs. If you have any more questions about this, please let me know.”

A screenshot of the reply from an ABA (AIB) agent to LVL Fact Checking Desk

Our further research found that ABA currently runs eight different schools; the programs are: Bank Marketing School, Commercial Lending Schools, Compliance Schools, Data & Analytics School, Payment Strategy School, Risk Management Schools, Wealth and Trust Schools and the Stonier Graduate School of Banking.

With the exception of the Stonier Graduate School, which offers both Stonier Diploma and Wharton Leadership Certificate, the rest of ABA schools only offer training courses and certifications.

The Stonier Graduate School of Banking is specifically designed to prepare senior-level bankers and regulators for the decision-making and oversight, the school states on its website.

Conclusion

Based on our research, which results were further confirmed by the email sent to us by the American Bankers Association, we conclude that the claim by Mr. Kollie that the “AIB has never been a degree granting institution” is correct. The AIB during its existence did not offer degree programs.

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