Fact Sheet about AIB College of Business

Name

AIB’s proper name is AIB College of Business. Please use this name on first mention. Do not refer to AIB by its former name, “American Institute of Business.” For second and subsequent mentions, “AIB” or “the college” are acceptable shorter names.

Leadership

• Nancy A. Williams, president
• Chris Costa, chair, Board of Trustees (Executive Vice President and Chief Operating 
Officer, Knapp Properties)
• Paul Brown, treasurer, (Vice President, Principal Financial Group)
• Michael Disbro, secretary (Radiologist, Mercy Medical Center).
• Other trustees include: Chuck Betts; David Casten, (President, Barton Solvents); Rollin 
Dick CPA, Randy Forburger, and Sheila Tipton (attorney with the Iowa Utilities Board) History
• The college was founded in 1921 by Everett O. Fenton. In 1957, he was succeeded by his son, Keith Fenton, who served as president until his retirement in 1998. Nancy Williams, Keith Fenton’s daughter, became the college’s third president Jan. 1, 1999.
• In 1941, AIB was reorganized as a nonprofit institution and it became governed by a Board of Trustees.
• The college was located in downtown Des Moines at 10th and Grand from 1935 to 1972.
• It moved to Fleur Drive in 1972, primarily to be able to offer on-campus housing. Now 
AIB offers apartment-style residences with the capacity to house 480 students.
• AIB’s campus today encompasses 20 acres and includes 16 buildings, plus a facilities 
garage, outdoor swimming pool and sand volleyball court.
• In its early years, AIB provided quality training in a variety of business skills. In the 
1950s it began awarding associate degrees long before such programs became popular across America with the creation of community colleges.

•During World War II, AIB had a contract with the government to train 1,800 women to be stenographers and typists. More than 1,200 had been trained and sent for service in Dayton, Ohio, and San Francisco, California, before the war ended.

Academics

• AIB is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
• AIB’s 2014 graduating class included 184 graduates who received Bachelor of Science degrees and 119 who received Associate in Applied Science degrees.
• Currently, AIB has more than 11,700 addressable alumni, and approximately 79 percent of those graduates live and work in Iowa. At least 4,500 graduates live and work in the greater Des Moines Golden Circle. Nearly 70 percent of graduating students routinely remain in the Des Moines area for work or to continue their education.
• Fall 2014 enrollment at AIB was 1,014 students. AIB offers daytime classes, online classes or blended learning, which combines both formats.
• Currently, AIB students can earn Bachelor of Science degrees in seven programs: 
Accounting
,  Business Administration
,  Sports and Event Management
, Contemporary Business Communications
o Event, Hospitality, and Tourism Management,  Marketing, and  General Studies
• The college also offers Associate in Applied Science degrees in 14 business-related majors.
• AIB has articulation agreements with all 15 community colleges in Iowa, allowing students 
who have earned associate degrees at the community colleges to transfer to AIB and continue 
on to earn a bachelor’s degree.
• Classes at AIB are held year-round, which provides the opportunity for full-time students to 
complete a bachelor’s degree in less than three years.
• AIB students self-report that upon graduation, 98 percent are employed or continuing their 
education.
• AIB employs approximately 180 full- and part-time individuals, including 24 full-time 
faculty members and 53 adjunct faculty members.
Photos of AIB (current and historic) are available for download here: 

• https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uwkngjn18nfeugd/AAD327vLce5acrVq8onZ9cWua?dl=0#/
• 
For more information, contact Jane Schorer Meisner, public relations director, at 515-246-5378 or 515-771-6655; e-mail meisnerj@aib.edu.