How higher ed can adapt to the changing MBA landscape
The emergence of alternatives, from specialized business degrees to low-cost professional certificates, has raised concerns about the Master of Business Administration’s continued viability across professional program leadership nationwide. Add in a tumultuous economy and stymieing of international student enrollment and the future of the degree becomes even more challenging to predict.
As the cornerstone of most graduate portfolios, losing students can spell disaster not only for the MBA program itself but also for other programs relying on its revenue generation and prestige. This session addressed the facts behind the headlines about the MBA landscape and our advice for MBA program success.
We’ve taken a critical look at the MBA programs succeeding in today’s difficult market to identify the most important program design decisions. From your admission requirements to program curriculum, learn how you can optimize your MBA’s alignment to students’ needs as well as position the program to compete against both other MBAs and emerging alternatives. Explore the takeaways below or jump to the next steps.
Review the key takeaways
Continue to invest in the MBA, which retains high appeal for students and schools
Concerns about declining MBA demand are unfounded, and degree conferrals remain high and relatively stable. Employers post a high and growing number of job opportunities for MBA graduates; high starting salaries and a significant salary premium over master’s degrees broadly (+$28,000) further emphasize MBAs’ continued desirability.
Competitive threats from specialized business or administration graduate degrees as well as alternative non-degree credentials have proven negligible. Competition beyond and among MBAs does, however, necessitate intentional program design to best serve today’s students.
Don’t keep qualified students out of your program
Overly complex or comprehensive admission requirements are the most common missed opportunity to serve a larger audience. Limit requirements to those essential to appropriate admission decisions, and remove requirements that often go unconsidered (e.g., essays read only in rare borderline decisions).
As students increasingly bypass standardized tests, strongly consider if past academic performance and work history can replace GMAT and similar requirements. Communicate requirements and any acceptable alternatives clearly so prospective students can quickly determine their readiness.
Don’t prevent working professionals from learning alongside living
The pandemic has only increased students’ familiarity with and expectation for online education. Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, MBA conferrals at programs with fully distance delivery available had grown 19% from 2015 to 2020 while conferrals at programs without fully distance delivery available had fallen 35%.
Occasional in-person opportunities can foster relationships and networking, but MBAs seeking to expand their audience should have few, if any, in-person or synchronous requirements. Instead, make educational requirements available online and asynchronously to balance with adults’ lives.
Don’t delay students’ achievement and career advancement
Simply delivering a program online and part-time isn’t enough to attract today’s students. Career impacts overwhelmingly motivate MBA students to enroll but slow, high-credit MBAs delay that accomplishment.
Accelerating the speed of your MBA program will attract and enroll working professional students who aim to secure the degree’s career impacts quickly. Enabling graduation within 18 months keeps you within a student’s considerations, while the fastest-growing MBA programs advertise possible completion within as short as 10 to 12 months.
Don’t limit your program’s relevance to students’ careers
Given both MBA students’ intense career outcome focus and the breadth of careers to which they’ll apply their MBAs, program curricula need to allow significant customization. A high proportion of specialization or elective credits enables students to align their education with their goals.
A health care specialization, for example, equips students advancing within local hospital administration while a business analytics specialization translates across organizations. MBAs can offer upwards of a dozen specializations, but six or so specializations well-aligned to local employer demand suffice to attract students.
Sample of top-requested skills
- Finance
- Strategic planning
- Product management
- Data analysis
- Supply chain
Sampling of MBA graduate occupations
-
Marketing managers
-
Management analysts
-
Financial managers
-
Medical and health services managers
-
Computer and information systems managers
Design MBAs very differently to serve international students
MBAs should prioritize designing for their largest potential audience: domestic working professional students. However, MBAs with a strong international population need to maintain more traditional design elements to retain that audience.
International students require in-person, on-campus classes to qualify for U.S. student visas and are less concerned than domestic students with fast, flexible completion. Increasing STEM content to classify the MBA within a STEM CIP code qualifies graduates for extended Optional Practical Training, another international student benefit.
Take the Next Steps
-
Request an MBA assessment
-
Learn more about the graduate market
-
Share the summary slides
This resource requires EAB partnership access to view.
Access the research report
Learn how you can get access to this resource as well as hands-on support from our experts through Professional and Adult Education Advisory Services.
Learn More