Last year, we wrote about how budding business humans were o-v-e-r shelling out wads of cash for an MBA degree.
And according to a new survey from the Graduate Management Admission Council, the streak has continued for a 4th straight year: Business school applications fell 7% in 2018.
Once a prerequisite for climbing the ranks to a corner office at corporate, the business degree has lost prominence among a new generation of students who are seeking out shorter, more specialized degrees.
There’s another reason at play: International students, who have historically served as a solid market for US business schools, are facing taller hurdles with work visas, and their enrollment has seen a 11% YoY decline.
Up until now, hallmark business schools like Harvard and Wharton School of Business seemed immune to declining applications (top-tier schools received more than half of all business-school applications in 2017).
But, for the first time in nearly a decade, they were hit with the same mounting disinterest that less prestigious programs have felt since the word “startup” was invented: Harvard apps are down 4.5% from last year, and Wharton’s, 6.7%.