Nancy Flinn said an MBA degree could equate to security in the job market.
“The traditional MBA student knows companies will hire the more qualified
candidate and thus they are better off with the degree. Or, if that person has
a job, they’re afraid their job will be eliminated when there are layoffs,”
said Flinn, the director of the MBA program at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Thus, one might expect to see a jump in enrollment in this still-dark economy.
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
For manufacturers, energy is more than just another operating expense. It plays a critical role…
Learn More
But, that’s not happening.
There has been an increase in enrollment at area schools, but not by much.
At Bryant College in Smithfield, enrollment next year is up slightly.
Kristopher Sullivan, director of graduate studies at Bryant, said he couldn’t
get into the exact enrollment figures since more students can sign up. But,
he said he is pleased at the turnout so far.
“We have a small increase, which we’re happy about. It’s been pretty steady
over the past few years,” he said.
Bryant offers a part-time program, which may play a role in explaining this
latest increase.
“In a down economy, Bryant usually doesn’t do as well. People who might be
interested in the program put more effort into work,” he said.
Full-time programs, such as that offered at the University of Rhode Island,
fare better during a tough economy. According to Lisa Lancelotta, coordinator
for the three MBA programs at URI, people go back to school to get an advanced
degree that helps them secure work.
She said this was particularly the case during another economic crunch back
in the early 1990s when the school saw a spike in the number of students working
toward an MBA.
“During that downturn in the economy, you needed to get a degree to stand
out,” Lancelotta said.
In this slow-to-recover economy, however, she said enrollment has remained
steady. She doesn’t have exact figures for this coming semester, but they are
not expected to deviate from the 24 students accepted last year.
“The numbers have not gone up or down more than a couple percentage points,”
she said. “But what has changed is the GMAT scores. They are much higher. It’s
more competitive out there.”
Nationwide, the number of applications sent out by students enrolling in MBA
programs has decreased after five years of steady growth, according to a survey
by the Graduate Management Admissions Council.
Only 35 percent of MBA schools have seen an increase in the number of applications
they’ve received; this contrasts to last year in which 84 percent of the schools
saw an increase in the number of applicants.
According to the survey, a weaker economy has restricted the number of applications
sent out for MBA programs. In addition, it said there is a declining number
of 24- to 35-year-olds overall.
Another factor that may be keeping enrollment figures down is a company’s
reimbursement policy
Bryant’s Sullivan said he’s seen anecdotal evidence that the economy has forced
some companies to cut back on tuition reimbursement programs.
Not all area companies, including Fidelity Investments Inc., said they are
cutting back on reimbursement programs.
“We offer a 100 percent reimbursement for work-related courses, such as MBA
programs; and I’m not aware of plans to change the policy,” said Jenny Engle,
spokeswoman for Fidelity.
At CVS, Todd Andrews said the company’s $1,000 a year reimbursement for MBA
programs will remain the same. He said the company is actually increasing its
educational support for those seeking pharmaceutical degrees.
An MBA program, which takes a year to complete, offers students a “cross-function”
approach to business. They learn roles of different aspects of business from
marketing to accounting and apply what they know in leadership roles.
The aim, according to Sullivan, is to see how these business aspects all work
together.
At UMass Dartmouth, there has been an increase of about 20 students so far
in this year’s enrollment figures. However, the nation’s economy may not have
a role in this.
“We’ve seen more students coming from all over the world,” said UMass Dartmouth’s
Flinn. “There are people from 12 different countries, including Russia, Ecuador,
Greece, Vietnam, Thailand. Normally, the only foreign students we get are from
China, India and France.”
She said she couldn’t explain this phenomenon, but she added that since UMass
is a state school and less expensive than some other schools that might be the
reason for the increase in foreign students.
According to the GMAC survey, this increase does not follow the trend it is
seeing. It says fear of SARS, terrorism and war has created more travel and
visa restrictions, thus limiting the number of applicants to MBA programs.
Flinn said foreign students could expect to have a difficult time after they
earn their MBA. Visas allow them to stay in the country to get practical experience
for a year. But, jobs have been hard to come by even for those students who
live in the United States.
“It’s easy for a company to choose between a student from the United States
and an international student. If the U.S. student gets a job, they tend to stay
longer. An international student has double trouble,” Flinn said.
She added that she is currently tracking how many students are reimbursed
by companies for attending the MBA program. But, she said it is too early to
conclude whether companies have been cutting back or paying more.
Flinn did say that she is still asked by students for bills so their companies
can pay the tuition.
Jason Perez-Dormitzer is a contributing writer to PBN.
For the complete current issue, visit our subscription Web site, or call (401) 273-2201, ext. 227 or 234.
