Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to examine the role of Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation in business education students' leadership motivation and citizenship motivation. Design/methodology/approach: This study followed a quantitative approach: a conceptual model was developed based on an extensive review of the related literature; a questionnaire-based survey was conducted through an online link sent to faculty members and heads of business schools across Jordan which has AACSB accreditation. In total, 307 questionnaire surveys were completed and used in the statistical analysis. The two-stage approach of structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze and interpret the data and used to validate the conceptual model of this research. Findings: The findings through SEM indicate all five latent constructs of organizational effectiveness have a significant and positive impact on business student citizenship motivation (SCM), whereas for the student leadership motivation (SLM), only student career development (SCD) has an insignificant impact. Research limitations/implications: Some limitations are associated with the quantitative methods of data analysis, missing demographic details of some respondents, and non-observation of response bias. The study model only includes five latent constructs of organizational effectiveness, which are appropriate to the study population and environment. Originality/value: This research offers a substantial contribution to the unexplored area of the organizational effectiveness of accreditation and its impact on the student leadership and citizenship, specifically in the context of Jordan. Moreover, as there are few AACSB studies in the Middle East, this research goes some way to address this shortage.