The Job Outlook For Specialized Master’s

NYU Stern MS in Business Analytics graduate Tim Long

In the past five years, the most significant area of growth in graduate business education has been in specialized master’s degrees. One school after another has launched programs in business analytics, real estate, financial engineering, even the business of fashion.

But the big question is how job worthy do these master’s degrees make a graduate? A new report out today (Feb. 18) from the MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance shows that 55% of the responding business schools reported an increase in both on-campus recruiting and full-time job postings this past year (see tables below) . And the single biggest increases were in the  financial services and technology sectors.

The survey–based on 83 responding business schools–found that not a single Top 50 business school with specialized master’s programs reported any downturn in job opportunities at all. Some 64% of the Top 20 business schools reported increased employment opportunities for specialized master’s grads, with 36% of the schools saying the market was flat. Some 67% of schools ranked 21st through 50th reported increases, while even the unranked schools offering such programs had good news to report. Half of those unranked schools experienced increases in job opportunities, with 19% flat and only 4% down.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES INCREASING FOR SPECIALIZED MASTER’S GRADS

Source: MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance, January 2016

Many of the job opportunities for specialized master’s graduates come from postings on campus rather than on-campus recruiting. Here, too, the numbers looked especially strong (see below).

Source: MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance, January 2016