The changing landscape of business school admissions does not mean that current selective processes should change, writes Sangeet Chowfla, president and CEO of the Graduate Management Admission Council. "Even without selectivity, selection remains important for schools to ensure a class that is intellectually ready, can contribute to the cohort, is employable, and--for both candidates and business schools--to maintain the signaling value of a school's degree," he writes in this blog post.
A rule change in H-1B visa applications can allow international MBA candidates to apply twice -- for their undergraduate study and again for a master's program -- improving their chances for approval, says Denise Karaoli, at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business. Bill Boulding, dean of Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, says securing STEM designation for some of the school's business courses has also boosted visa chances for students.
Sixty-two percent of startups plan to hire MBAs, up from 2018's 45%, Graduate Management Admission Council data shows. "It creates a win for both sides," GMAC's Sangeet Chowfla says.
India's Union Budget 2019 still favors Indian institutions but sets aside research money that may allow growth among private business schools, writes Anshul Jain, assistant professor at MDI Gurgaon. Jain and others including Gaurav Srivastava, Regional Director, South Asia, for the Graduate Management Admission Council, respond to the recently released budget.
Some business schools are responding to market changes by turning to specialized degrees in finance and data analytics where data from the Graduate Management Admission Council shows steady growth. Some schools also are compressing curricula and offering shorter degree programs and certificates.
Tightened visa requirements for visiting workers has led to an approximate 15% decline in H-1B visa approval rates, causing challenges for companies that routinely hire STEM talent from abroad, Fatime Doczi writes. These companies are now looking to recruit domestically but are concerned that the US lacks the qualified talent needed to fill their skill demands.
A new report from S&P Global shows that the colleges most likely to remain strong in the shrinking enrollments and state funding landscape are larger institutions with more diversified resources. State and regional colleges are more likely to face the possibility of closure or mergers than larger private, better-endowed institutions, the data show.
Diego Rejtman, general manager for Microsoft Global University Recruiting, says the company hires MBAs who want to keep learning and want to improve themselves and explore innovative new ideas. Several recent graduates are highlighted, including Bufus Outlaw III who praised Microsoft's "bring your brain" culture, where he says all voices are heard "and great ideas get accepted and implemented no matter who brings them up."
