A Turnaround For Two-Year MBA Programs?

‘POSITIVE NEWS THAT REFLECTS A STRONG FULL-TIME MBA MARKET’

Those overall numbers, too, represent a significant turnaround in the market for two-year programs. Only four years ago, in 2011, 67% of the business schools responding to the GMAC survey reported declines in application volume for their two-year MBA experiences, while only 28% saw volumes go up. Every single year, from 2009 until 2012, the majority of schools with two-year MBA programs reported declines in applications. And in 2013, just half the schools said volume went up, while it continued to fall for 46% of the schools responding to GMAC’s survey.

“This is positive news and reflects a strong full-time MBA market,” said Bob Alig, GMAC’s executive vice president for school products, in a statement. “The full-time MBA continues to be a sought after credential because graduates consistently see a high return on their investment — not only in terms of earnings, but also in job satisfaction and personal fulfillment.”

GMAC said this year’s survey contains data from 641 graduate business programs located at 306 universities worldwide, including 213 schools in the U.S., 41 in Europe, 23 in Asia-Pacific, and 17 in Canada. GMAC’s findings on the state of the two-year MBA market were extrapolated from 116 programs, including 92 in the U.S.

GMAC also found that European-based full-time one-year MBA programs rebounded in 2015 after two years of stagnant volume. The majority (67%) report year-on-year application volume growth, compared with 38% reporting the same the last two years. This uptick can be attributed largely to increased demand from international applicants (63% of programs report increases compared with last year).

ONLINE MBA PROGRAMS REPORTING YEAR-ON-YEAR APPLICATION GROWTH

For the Asia-Pacific region, GMAC found that full-time two-year MBA programs are performing exceedingly well, better than any other world market, with 90% reporting increases in volume. Some 60% of full-time one-year MBA programs, however, reported decreases in volume. “These Asia-Pacific programs are unique within the full-time MBA market in that the majority of applicants are coming from within the region,” says the GMAC report.

Overall, a greater share of online and flexible MBA programs report year-on-year application volume growth compared with part-time and executive MBA programs. GMAC says that “this trend may be related to survey findings that indicate shifts in employer tuition assistance programs.” This year, both part-time and executive MBA programs expect fewer incoming students to have employer financial backing, whereas online MBA programs expect that a growing share of students will receive funding.

For specialized business master’s programs, more report application volume increases than decreases among Master in Finance, Master in Management, and Master in Marketing and Communications programs. Among Master of Accounting programs, however, 40% report increases versus 47 percent reporting decreases.

The majority of U.S.-based graduate management programs show stable or growing application volume from underrepresented populations, GMAC said. For example, 63% of full-time two-year MBA programs report stable (15%) or increasing (48%) application volume for this group.

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