Experts Concerned About Falling Number of Full Time MBA Applicants

It has been observed that executives tend to avoid business degrees when the economy looks good in order to progress their careers. But the same business executives start running in groups towards business schools when the economy looks sluggish as MBA degrees helps them to climb the corporate ladder. However, this observation does not hold true anymore as the recent recession has completely changed the market and the business world.

Rise in MBA Applicants in US & Europe

Experts are now looking forward to the number of MBA applicants in the US this year as economies in North America and Western Europe are getting stronger. Although many leading B-schools in US have not yet reported their application figures, but some of the renowned schools have claimed a noticeable rise in the class of 2016. The UCLA Anderson School of Management has reported an increase in applications by 32%, while at Kenan–Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina, there has been a rise of 28% in enrolments. Moreover, the US Department of Education has also confirmed that the number of master’s levels students pursuing business degrees was higher than those studying education degrees.

Growing Concerns of Education Experts

However, several admissions directors believe that all this data is unreliable and misleading. Niki da Silva, Admissions Director at Rotman Schoolof Management, University of Toronto, says, “It seems that there is a small number of programmes that are doing well, but the rest of the market is flat”. In fact, most of the reputed business schools are now making extra effort to attract more students. Phil Carter of Imperial College London says, “It’s forced us to proactively look for the right leads”.

Gareth Howells, MBA Programme Director at London Business School believes that it is foolish to think that the MBA market can go back to the 2008 levels. He says, “The protracted nature of the downturn ripped up the rule book on a lot of issues.” Currently, the business education market has become segmented and very complicated. The fact is online and part-time MBA programmes are severely affecting the market share of the traditional full-time programmes. Furthermore, specialised master’s qualifications and professional degrees like the CFA have also posed serious threat to the full-time MBA programmes.

Increasing Demand for One Year MBA

ChristineSneva, the Executive Director of MBA admissions at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management in Cornell University, points out another aspect. She says that European model of business education is progressively becoming more threatening for the conventional 2 year MBA degree programmes in the US. She says “Europe has been the leader in looking at what flexibility meant to people.”

KateSmith, Head of Admissions, at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, assures that the school is currently planning to attract more students for it 1 year MBA programme. Admissions Consultant Stacy Blackman also believes that the popularity of 1 year MBA programmes is growing exponentially as nowadays most students apply for both 1 year and 2 year degrees. She says, “People are just seeing that you can accomplish an MBA in one year and it is very effective”.

Emergence of Undergraduate Business Programmes

Another factor directly affecting the number of students applying for full time MBAs is the rise in business management programmes for younger learners. As a result, most recent graduates or undergraduates are gaining knowledge in business. Paul Danos, Dean of the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, says, “In the future we are going to be teaching an array of programmes. Before everybody lived or died with the applications for the MBA, now we’re getting demand at every level”.

Growth in Applications, Not Applicants

However, the real doubt regarding the figures arises from the fact that MBA aspirants now tend to make more applications. According to Admissions Consultant Stacy Blackman, earlier applicants would apply to only 2-3 business schools; but now most candidates apply to 4-5 schools. This results in the rising number of applications (40%), but not the actual number of applicants.

Whether increased applications will finally result in increased number of students can be found out only in September-October, when students get enrolled into the business schools.