Is The MBA Shifting To A Buyer’s Market?

With business school classes shifting online and hiring freezes becoming the new normal, is now a good time to be applying for an MBA?

Seb Murray, of Find MBA, recently spoke to experts on how the MBA may be shifting from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market.

THE GRIM REALITY

B-schools are struggling right now.

In a recent survey by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, 46% of surveyed schools say they expect a drop in enrollment for terms that begin between now and October.

Harvard Business School recently announced that it expects revenues to plunge $115 million due to the pandemic.

BUYER’S MARKET

While many b-schools have already received a majority of their applications, we’re still seeing extended admissions deadlines and an increase in incoming class sizes.

Experts say this makes for an interesting theory – perhaps the MBA market could temporarily shift so that business school applicants hold the advantage.

Andrew Ainslie, Dean of Rochester’s Simon Business School, tells Find MBA that this advantage stems from more applicants being able to get into more prestigious b-schools—at least for now.

He projects that admissions will get more competitive next year, especially if we see the economy continue to drop.

If that’s the case, Ainslie says, b-schools will have tighter budgets and scholarships will become more selective.

“Prospective students are between a rock and a hard place,” Ainslie tells Find MBA.

Sources: Find MBA, Poets & Quants, Poets & Quants, Poets & Quants, Poets & Quants