The development of various national and supra-national accreditation systems is currently being discussed as a possible response to an increasingly internationalized and deregulated higher education sector. However, the establishment of such procedures may have unintended consequences, not least with respect to limiting the diversity of higher education. By studying a number of accreditation reports in the field of business administration (the EQUIS system), the paper discusses whether this procedure manages to balance the need for minimum standards with demands related to institutional diversity and development. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)