Stampede to Business School Eases (applications for MBA programs have leveled off)

New York Times ^ | 9/25/2009

[SeekAndFind]

Last October, fresh from the collapse of Lehman Brothers, there were signs that the financial crisis was driving a bull market in business school applications.

A year later, the picture is a bit different. While aspiring bankers and would-be chief executives continue to apply to M.B.A. programs in large numbers, there are signs that the rush to the quad may be easing.

On Thursday, the Graduate Management Admission Council, a business school trade group, reported that applications for business schools seem to have leveled off after a record-setting 2008. Schools participating in the council’s survey reported that 2009 applications for traditional two-year, full-time M.B.A. programs were essentially flat from a year ago.

Most of these programs — 64 percent of them — reported an increase in 2009 applications from the previous year. But that was well below the 80 percent that reported a year-over-year increase in 2008. Interestingly, applications for “accelerated” one-year M.B.A. programs were up sharply this year, with a 21 percent rise in applications, the council said. (The survey was taken in late May and early July, when many schools had not yet reached their application deadlines.)

Another leading indicator seems to be moderating. The number of Graduate Management Admission Tests — a requirement for most business school applicants — that were taken in 2009 rose 7.6 percent, the council said. A year ago, the increase was 13%.

What is behind the deceleration? Here is a brief lesson in business school economics. Demand for spots at business schools tends to increase along with unemployment, as the opportunity cost of leaving the work force goes down.

But there is a secondary trend: As an economic downturn drags on, the ability to pay for a business school education decreases — and that latter effect may be behind the latest numbers

[SeekAndFind]

Also, the backlash after the credit boom has led to higher standards for getting some student loans, which could also be crimping applications.

[wayoverontheright]

What is behind the deceleration?

Let me see....the word "rich" is being used as an epithet, the words "evil" and "CEO" are now indelibly linked, "Wall Street" is a pejorative, employers and investors have become the declared enemy of our country's tax policy, and 99% of high school commencement speakers ridicule private sector players while exhorting graduates to "public service".

Is it any wonder kids don't want to join what they now perceive to be the "dark side"?

[Red Badger]

That will make current MBA’s more expensive. Supply and demand............

[Buckeye McFrog]

the Obamaites have already set up an academy to redirect their careers into “helping” occupations (as government bureaucrats)