From HBS to Berkeley Haas, US B-Schools See MBA Applications Fall

During the glory days of the MBA, hundreds of thousand aspirants used to land up at business schools across the US, excited over prospects of quality education, great return of investment and excellent career prospects.

In such a scenario, the top-ranked schools’ low acceptance rates and high fees did nothing to dissuade applicants. However, of late, the schools have noted a fall in the number of applicants, both domestic and those from abroad.

With globalisation demanding more diversity and increasing mobility coupled with better job prospects, many of the US citizens have been considering the option of pursuing an MBA in Europe or Asia.

University of Berkeley’s Haas School of Business witnessed a 7.55% drop in applications for the batch starting in 2018

According to the Financial Times, a combination of rising tuition fees and the paucity of employers willing to fund the students, have led to a situation in which applicants were targeting only a few elite schools.

However, Harvard Business School (HBS) saw a dip in the applications by 4.5% for its 2-year full-time MBA program, compared to the previous year. Similarly, at NYU Stern School of Business had a 4% drop in applications for 2018.

Overseas applicants, who make up for nearly half of the total applicants, went down by 10%.

This a significant drop considering the fact that business schools depend upon, to a large extent, on these students who pay full fees and cannot avail of many of the discounts open only to US citizens.

At Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, applications are down by 6%. Dean Bill Boulding attributes the fall in overseas applicants to an increasing number of alternatives in Europe and Asia including online options, increasing immigration curbs under the Trump administration and cyclical movements in demand for full-time study.

Along with the exposure to new market ethos and culture, most of these overseas MBA programs, especially in Europe, are in the 1-year format. Unlike the 2-year full-time programs in the US, translates to shorter period away from work, considerably lighter on the pocket by way of fees and living expenses.

University of Berkeley’s Haas School of Business witnessed a 7.55% drop in applications for the batch starting in 2018. Peter Johnson, assistant dean for full-time MBA programs and admissions attributes it to the drop in the number of overseas applicants.

However, none of the top schools has any immediate plans to change the program format or lower admission requirements