Business schools are experiencing the second-largest surge in application volume since 2002, according to the most recent research out of the Granduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), which administers the GMAT exam.
GMAC’s 2008 Application Trends Survey reveals that 77 percent of business schools surveyed reported an increase in application volume this year, up from 64 percent in 2007. The jump represents the largest increase in five years.
The current economy only serves to make the value proposition of an MBA even stronger, according to GMAC President and CEO Dave Wilson. “Going to business school is one of the best ways to improve your marketability and expand your options anytime – but especially in this challenging economic climate,” he told the Financial Times.
According to a report in BusinessWeek citing the GMAC survey, the greatest surge has been among mid-tier business schools, such as Penn State’s Smeal College of Business and Babson College’s F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business, which have seen an increase of between 35 and 40 percent in applications received this year over last.
But the admissions offices at top-tier schools, too, have been flooded. MIT’s Sloan School of Management saw a 28 percent increase in application volume in 2008, and NYU’s Stern School of Business was up 20 percent, receiving its second-highest number of applications on record, according to BusinessWeek.
Strong interest from international students – for whom a U.S. business school education presents even greater value thanks to the faltering dollar – also has helped fuel the application surge, GMAC reports. Last year, 54 percent of students applying to full-time MBA programs were students from outside the school’s home country.
Citing further projected economic changes and GMAT test-taking patterns, the survey results indicate that the coming year may hold even greater application volume before a slowdown begins.
So far, application volume to full-time MBA programs has been rising at the fastest clip, but GMAC’s Wilson predicts that part-time and executive MBA programs will be the next to see a significant jump. “As the slowdown in the economy continues, we’re going to see a shift to the part-time prrams because people aren’t going to want to leave work if they have a good job,” he told BusinessWeek.
GMAC has not yet released the full 2008 Application Trend Survey results to the public. To view the 2007 results, which help provide some context and a holistic view of major survey results, click here.
