GMAC Releases Findings from Its MBA Application Trends Survey
Survey researchers from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) hosted a conference call today to discuss its MBA Application Trends Survey for business schools. The survey addressed the internationalization of graduate management applicant pools, changing dynamics among MBA and specialized master’s programs and regional trends. VisionPoint Marketing was one of several agencies and media outlets invited to attend the call. Here is a roundup of the GMAC’s findings:
GMAC's VP, Global Communications, Rich D'Amato began the meeting explaining exactly what was tracked by this year’s MBA Application Trend Survey: The survey tracked GMAT exam applicants between July 2010 and June 2011 including 649 programs, 331 schools and across 45 countries. This year's application pool was the third highest total on record, he said. The highest ever GMAT application year was in 2009 during the beginning of the US's economic recession.D'Amato added GMAT exam trends are important because GMAT applicants translate directly into MBA applications.
Here are the key findings:
- 258,192 people took the GMAT from 2010 to 2011
- 55% of those taking the GMAT were non-US citizens
- The largest finding was that 63% of full-time MBA programs reported a slight decline in numbers of applicants, but all programs reported a higher caliber of applicants upon last year
- Applications for the part-time and executive MBA programs were stable or higher upon last year
- 83% of programs reported an increasein applications to their masters in finance programs along with 69% of management programs and more than half of accounting programs
Dynamics among International MBA applicants:
- Most international applicants to full-time MBA programs in the US come from China and India
- 46% of all graduate business programs saw an increase of international applicants upon last year, especially full-time MBA programs
- 85% of applicants to Europe's one year full-time MBA programs were international
Gender trends:
- The survey found two thirds of MBA applicants are male, both in the U.S. and globally
- In the U.S., 49% of men applied to specialty Masters degrees versus 51% of women
- For non-US programs 60% of men applied to specialty Masters versus 40% of women
- When asked what concerned them the most about pursuing an MBA, women reported concerns that the MBA degree would interfere with personal plans, such as starting their family, GMAC featured speaker; Rebecca Estrada said.
The Q and A
Katie Mangan, national correspondent from the Chronicle of Higher Education, asked whether the impact of the recession on full-time MBA application still lingered since 2009. She wondered whether the continuing decline of applications to full-time MBA programs in the U.S. could be tied to growing skepticism of the value of the MBA. The GMAC ‘s featured speaker Alex Chishom replied that the unemployment rate was not impacting applications to full-time MBA programs. “In good economic times and bad economic times, the value of the MBA remains strong,” he said.