GRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOLS SEE DRAMATIC RISE IN APPLICATIONS - GMAC

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 (Bernama) -- Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), in its new report, found a 12 per cent increase in applications to graduate business school programmes from 2023 to 2024 across the globe.

This is a sharp reversal from the previous two consecutive years of declines, which followed a small pandemic related boost in 2020-2021, according to the annual survey by GMAC.

According to a statement, a deeper dive into the data shows that the significant uptick in applications was mainly driven by renewed interest in full-time, in-person offerings, with nearly six out of 10 such programmes reporting application growth.

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“This year’s record growth in applications hints at a pendulum swing toward graduate business education, especially staple programmes like full-time master of business administrations (MBAs) and accounting and management master’s degrees,” said GMAC chief executive officer, Joy Jones.

Full-time two-year and one-year MBA programmes, for instance, saw the largest shares of schools reporting application growth in the past decade at 80 per cent and 64 per cent, respectively, while nearly three-quarters of accounting and management master’s programmes also reported application growth.

Despite the increased interest in studying in-person, those with more flexibility also seem to be in high demand, with 58 per cent of online programmes and 52 per cent of hybrid programmes reporting application growth, as do roughly two-thirds of online and flexible MBA programmes.

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The increase in total applications can also be attributed to an outsized increase in domestic applications, which are made from candidates with the same country of citizenship as the programme.

Geographically, GMAC also found the United States (US) remains a top study destination for international talent, with an overwhelming majority of prospective students signalling the upcoming presidential election will not adversely impact their study plans as in previous election cycles.

At the same time, domestic applications also drove up demand for graduate business education in the US, Asia, and Europe, except for the United Kingdom, which witnessed a 45 per cent drop in domestic applications and a 12-point dip in international applications.

Meanwhile, rising applications from women candidates give hope to trends in the right direction, with this year’s data showing a small shift upward to 42 per cent after having consistently hovered around 40 per cent over the past 10 years.

-- BERNAMA