Kellogg Made Big Changes To Its Part-Time MBA. Not Everyone Is Happy About It

On August 1, Northwestern Kellogg School of Management announced major changes to its Evening & Weekend MBA program. Among them:

• Allow students to gain admission via the Executive Assessment and other exams instead of the Graduate Management Admission Test and Graduate Record Exam;
• Offer permanent GMAT waivers based on certain undergraduate qualifications;
• Offer a select amount of online classes for each quarter.

The changes, announced in a blog post by Director of Admissions Alyssa Jackson, are designed to “meet the needs of our students” while keeping “the evolving world in mind.” But not everyone is happy about Kellogg’s moves — including some current part-time MBA students.

A BLOW TO BRAND EQUITY?

Tim Rzeznik joined the Kellogg Evening & Weekend MBA program in 2021. He expects to graduate next year. Rzeznik says he and more than three dozen classmates who communicate via Slack are disappointed in Kellogg’s announcement, calling it “a move in the wrong direction” designed to make money that will likely dilute the quality of the program, ranked No. 3 in the U.S. this year by U.S. News & World Report.

“While GMAT waivers and online classes were reasonable accommodations during the Covid-19 pandemic, this latest announcement clearly conveys that the near-term strategy for the school is to trade brand equity for cash up front,” Rzeznik tells Poets&Quants.

“One of the reasons why I chose this school over NYU Stern, CMU Tepper, and Indiana Kelley was the effect the high standards had on the overall Kellogg brand. This latest announcement is a move in the wrong direction.”

MORE FLEXIBILITY IS A GOOD THING, SCHOOL SAYS

While the changes may not please Rzeznik, they are not uncommon. Many business schools have gone either test optional or have agreed to waive standardized tests, even for their full-time MBA programs. And surveys show that part-time students increasingly want online options when they can’t attend class on campus. Many other prominent business schools, from UCLA Anderson to UVA Darden, are providing some online options to their part-time students.

The changes announced by Kellogg will better align the part-time Evening & Weekend program with the school’s executive MBA and other working professionals programs, says Greg Hanifee, associate dean of degree operations. He tells P&Q that the B-school has data validating the admissions moves — and while flexibility to take some courses online meets the needs of most students, the program overall will continue to be based on in-person instruction.

“We implemented these changes to be in line with our other working professional programs,” Hanifee says. “For example, our Executive MBA for years has not had a test requirement yet continues to deliver top-quality students. Upon review, we wanted to align our two working professional programs and sync requirements more closely while meeting the needs of working students. And, we have performance data from the post-pandemic period that validates measures of achievement to be considered for admission.

“Further, one of the greatest value drivers of our Evening & Weekend program is the flexibility it offers. The addition of a remote option for select courses will provide our students with greater ability to customize their programs based on their individual needs and circumstances. In-person learning continues to be the pillar of our program.”

‘A LITTLE BIT BLINDSIDED’

Rzeznik surmises that the changes to the Evening & Weekend program are a response to a downturn in applications, which has been widely reported elsewhere, including at some major full-time programs.

“My guess is that enrollment is down below even pre-Covid levels,” Rzeznik says. “I believe this is the case because it’s reasonable to call this change to admissions a ‘lowering of standards’ and it is more likely this will lead to more enrollment, not less enrollment. This is not unlike what happened during the Covid admissions surge.

“They’re definitely trying to pump up the numbers, so it is about the money, in my opinion, and I’m wondering if they’re not getting enough executive MBAs and Leadership Development MBAs, so this is something they’re doing to make it up.”

He says he and others in the program feel “a little bit blindsided” by the school’s moves.

“Obviously it’s a private school and they have every right to do that, but still — is my degree now worth less? I mean, this is a marketing school. This is their brand. This is hurting their brand — is it hurting my degree too?”

DON’T MISS: AT KELLOGG, A NEW CAMPAIGN FOR A NEW DAY IN BUSINESS EDUCATION or IN KELLOGG’S MBA CLASS OF 2023, A RETURN TO NORMAL — AND BIG STRIDES FORWARD