On September 24, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) released the findings of its 2015 Application Trends Survey. The findings have shown that there is an increase in application volume for majority of
full-time MBA programmes- in both two-year and one-year formats, compared with last year and 10 years ago.
Among full-time two-year MBA programmes, 57 percent reported increased application volume this year. For full-time one-year programmes, 2015 marks a notable improvement- 51 percent of programmes reported application volume increase, compared to just 37 percent that reported growth last year. Both program formats are performing better compared with 10 years ago- 60 percent of full-time two-year and 53 percent of full-time one-year MBA programmes indicate they received more applications this year than in 2005.
"This is positive news and reflects a strong full-time MBA market," said Bob Alig, GMAC's Executive Vice President for school products. "The full-time MBA continues to be a sought after credential because graduates consistently see a high return on their investment- not only in terms of earnings, but also in job satisfaction and personal fulfillment."
The findings from GMAC's 16th annual Application Trends Survey show a positive turnaround in the domestic MARKET for U.S.-based, full-time two-year MBA programmes, as a majority (59 percent) report year-on-year domestic application growth- a level not attained since 2009. Domestic candidates still account for less than half of the applicant pool for these U.S. MBA programmes- 45 percent in 2015.
This year's report also reveals that the representation of women in program applicant pools has increased three to eight percentage points over the last five years for all program types analyzed in the report, with the lone exception of Master of Accounting, which continues to maintain its majority level of female representation (57 percent).
More than half of the following program formats report growing application volume for women in 2015: full-time two-year MBA (51 percent of programmes), full-time one-year MBA (50 percent), executive MBA (50 percent), online MBA (55 percent), Master in Management (55 percent), Master of Finance (56 percent), and Master of Marketing and COMMUNICATIONS (60 percent).
"GMAC is pleased to see that business schools' efforts to increase the number of applications from women seem to be succeeding," said Alig. The report shows that targeted outreach for women candidates is conducted by 67 percent of full-time two-year MBA programmes, 41 percent of part-time MBA programmes, and 51 percent of executive MBA programmes.
Regional Trends
European-based full-time one-year MBA programmes rebounded in 2015 after two years of stagnant volume. The majority (67 percent) report year-on-year application volume growth, compared with 38 percent reporting the same the last two years. This uptick can be attributed largely to increased demand from international applicants (63 percent of programmes report increases compared with last year).
For the Asia-Pacific region, full-time two-year MBA programmes are performing exceedingly well- 90 percent report increases in volume. 60 percent of full-time one-year MBA programmes, on the other hand, report decreases in volume. These Asia-Pacific programmes are unique within the full-time MBA MARKET in that the majority of applicants are coming from within the region.
Additional Trends
Overall, a greater share of online and flexible MBA programmes report year-on-year application volume growth compared with part-time and executive MBA programmes. This trend may be related to survey findings that indicate shifts in employer tuition assistance programmes. This year, both part-time and executive MBA programmes expect fewer incoming students to have employer financial backing, whereas online MBA programmes expect that a growing share of students will receive funding.
For specialized business master's programmes, more report application volume increases than decreases among Master in Finance, Master in Management, and Master in marketing and Communications programmes. Among Master of Accounting programmes, however, 40 percent report increases versus 47 percent reporting decreases.
The majority of U.S.-based graduate management programmes show stable or growing application volume from underrepresented populations. For example, 63 percent of full-time two-year MBA programmes report stable (15 percent) or increasing (48 percent) application volume for this group.
When asked to describe the ideal business school candidate, survey respondents from all program types were asked to list three adjectives; frequently used words included "motivated," "driven," "passionate," and "ambitious."
Full-time MBA programmes cite the ability to collaborate as being very important; part-time MBA programmes value work experience, while specialized business master's programmes look for academic and analytical skills.
In evaluating applicants, programmes generally weigh academic transcripts, standardized exam scores, and interviews the most heavily in their admissions decisions.
Data for the 2015 Application Trends Survey were collected from a total of 641 graduate business programmes located at 306 universities worldwide.