P&Q’s Must Reads: Amid DEI Backlash, UT Austin’s McCombs Quietly Ends 40-Year Partnership With The Consortium 

Hello everyone  — Welcome back to Poets&Quants’ Must Reads, a quick, digestible recap of the top business school news, sponsored by CentreCourt, P&Q’s virtual admission events.

I’m your host, Kristy Bleizeffer, and I’ll be highlighting the most important P&Q stories you might have missed. So, let’s get to it. 

No. 1: Amid DEI Backlash, UT Austin’s McCombs Quietly Ends 40-Year Partnership With The Consortium 

The University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business appears to have ended its decades-long partnership with the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management effective July 1, according to a consortium email to prospective applicants obtained by Poets&Quants.

The letter claims that UT Austin said the decision was driven by recent changes in state and federal policies regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs.

The break up is just the latest in a long line of state and national DEI rollbacks amid the Trump Administration’s intensifying push to remove race-conscious policies from higher education.

Read more about this developing story from our trending tab.

No. 2: Rotman Enters Acceleration Race With Two New One-Year Business Degrees

The University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management is jumping into the race to graduate young business leaders in less time.

Rotman this week announced that it is launching two new one-year programs: a Master of Management (MMgt) for recent non-business graduates, and a One-Year MBA for candidates with academic and professional backgrounds in business. Both programs expect to enroll their first cohorts in May 2026.

With the programs, Rotman joins a growing number of top North American schools offering accelerated degrees that reduce the opportunity cost of the traditional two-year MBA.

Find the full story now, on our homepage.

No. 3: MBA Admissions Consulting: When Tough Love Matters

Poets&Quants founder and editor John A. Byrne talks to one our most highly rated MBA consultants to uncover the secrets to her tough love approach.

This conversation is a must read for MBA hopefuls looking for insider information into some of the top schools. 

Read it in full from our homepage.

No. 4: Our Weekly Round Up of  News You Can Use

No matter where you are in your MBA journey, we bring several helpful stories for you this week.

First up: 2025-2026 MBA Application Deadlines At Leading Business Schools. We’ve updated the list to give you the most up-to-date info for all your target schools. Find this guide on our homepage. 

Next: What Europe’s MBA Admissions Directors Want You To Know. This article, up now on our homepage, offers insider advice for students looking to study in Europe. 

Finally: Can You Change A “Ding” Into An “Accept”? In this article, a former HBS AdComm director’s outlines the 4 pillars that matter. You can find it our admissions hub.

And, that’s it for this week’s Must Reads recap. 

I also want to alert school seekers to our events tab from our main menu. There, you’ll find all the upcoming admissions events for a range of degrees and programs including full-time and online MBAs, specialized masters, entrepreneurship and more. Registration is free.

Again, I’m Kristy Bleizeffer, and you can join me next week, right here, for a recap of what’s important in the world of business education. Thanks for listening.

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