GMAC asked employers: Are b-school grads well prepared to be successful at your company? | Can business schools help reduce poverty? | How much can MBA interns expect to earn?
August 9, 2019
Topical news for the graduate management education community
A survey conducted in partnership with the Graduate Management Admission Council found that 65% of employers across 45 countries believe business school graduates are well-prepared to succeed in their companies. Employers in finance, health care and technology expressed the most confidence in MBA graduate skills, the data shows.
A new report based on the findings of GMAC's annual Corporate Recruiters Survey does a deep dive on the employability of business school graduates. Read more on GMAC Advisor.
An international study by the Association of MBAs and Business Graduates Association found that three quarters of business school professionals, alumni and students believe their institutions can have a "substantial impact" on poverty. Nearly half of business school leaders say their institutions teach students to help those in need, but only 28% reported that their schools were actively engaging in projects to alleviate poverty.
MBA intern salaries at the top 25 US business schools have leveled off over the last five years, but students at some schools, such as the Stern School, saw their salaries go up more than 25%. Overall, the data shows an average salary growth of 8.9%, or about $600 more per month.
Students who earned an MBA in 2016 and 2017 on average owed about $39,900 in federal student loans, about 1% more than the cohort that graduated in 2015 and 2016, according to data from the US Education Department. School officials at Harvard and the University of Chicago say they keeping costs down for students this academic year by holding tuition steady for first-year MBA students.
Adult learners need varied forms of educational technology to help them learn new skills, writes David Hutchins, vice president of higher education and K-12 education for CDW•G. Administrators need to ask students about their needs, educate faculty in how to meet those needs and find the right technology solutions that help adult learners, he writes.
Data shows that fees paid by students beyond tuition and room and board have more than doubled in the 15 years ending in 2017, and graduate students, especially, are beginning to push back, pointing to their already low stipends. Some graduate students have led protests and questioned the fees, but administrators say the money is needed to keep programs affordable.
Yale School of Management dean Ted Snyder says his greatest achievement at Yale was integrating business school curricula across the university, which he said has increased enrollment and benefited students.
Colleges and universities must be committed to "producing globally literate leaders" by providing more opportunities to study abroad and learn different languages and cultures, writes Margee Ensign, president of Dickinson College. "If we eviscerate global education, we become 'America last,' " she writes in this blog post.