A matter of degrees:MBA programs seeking students

A matter of degrees
MBA programs seeking students
By Evan Pondel, Staff Writer  

Jason Mackay never thought an MBA would one day enhance his skills as an active-duty major in the U.S. Army.
But after serving in Iraq and a promotion in rank, Mackay decided to take advantage of some extra time he had been allotted.

The conundrum was that Mackay, 34, wanted to pursue a master's degree in national security studies, not business administration.

"That was my plan B," he said.

And that's exactly the problem many business schools are facing as MBA programs take second place for those mulling graduate school. No longer can a master's in business administration ensure a six-digit salary, and universities are trying to restore some of the guaranteed payoff to their business schools.

More than 70 percent of full-time MBA programs cite a decline in operations this year when compared with 2004, according to the Graduate Management Admissions Council. At the same time, more U.S. applicants are sending admittance scores to Europe and Asia.

"But while it may appear that applications have dropped significantly, there are other factors at play that don't spell doom for the MBA," said Bob Ludwig, director of external communications at GMAC, a McLean, Va.-based organization responsible for developing the Graduate Management Admission Test.

Among those factors, students are not applying to as many programs as they did in the past. Applicants are also more inclined to stay closer to home for school.

That was the thought process when Christina Cornejl, 28, applied to California State University, San Bernardino, for business school. And like Mackay, business school was plan B. She initially wanted to attend medical school.

"But then I realized there were other positions in the world besides being a physician," said Cornejl, a biology major who was working as an unhappy chemist at the time.

Now in her third year, Cornejl plans to work for a pharmaceutical company when she finishes school. "I'm thinking at this point in my career it may be safer to be a manager than at the bottom of the totem pole."

That's exactly the kind of student CSUSB is attempting to attract. The school has experienced a decline in applications from domestic students, and plans to ramp up its recruitment efforts.

"We need to make up for the loss," said Beth Flynn, MBA program director. "There's quite a crisis going on for the entire university system."

To address the problem, CSUSB has hired a task force that will oversee domestic and international recruitment efforts. The school has also overhauled its curriculum to focus on more entrepreneurial course work, a key characteristic when it comes to attracting international students.

The fact that the U.S. plays a bigger role in the global economy is yet another reason business schools are shifting their focus abroad. About 30 percent of full-time MBA programs reported an increase in international applications, compared with 18 percent in 2004. Of the countries supplying the most international applicants, Taiwan ranks first, followed by India, Korea, Thailand, Japan, Mexico and Turkey.

The University of Southern California has a thriving population of international MBA students. But the school has also seen a 20 percent decline in overall enrollment numbers of full-time MBA students entering between 2004 and 2005. Yash Gupta, dean of USC's Marshall School of Business, attributes the decline to shifts in the job market.

And because job creation has dipped significantly in recent years, enrollment numbers will likely continue their downward trend, Gupta said. But as China's and India's economies grow, the dean is confident he can improve enrollment at Marshall.

That also requires a shift in business school philosophy. "Ten years ago, a student came to business school with a passport, saying, 'This is how I'm going to make millions,"' Gupta said. "But the quick-buck mentality is going. Today, there is more humility. You have to earn your stripes."

Instead of adding accounting and marketing courses, USC is attempting to tap creativity. The school is focusing on strategies to help students manage innovation. To do that, Gupta is advocating that students work in groups and understand how businesses interact with their environment.

But that method isn't completely foolproof, from Mackay's perspective. The CSUSB business student said working in groups isn't always productive because the "cases we're studying are a little dated." For example, Mackay recently worked on a case study about whether an Internet presence is helpful for Company X.

"When something like this comes up, you're standing there with hindsight, saying to yourself, 'duh,"' Mackay said.

Attempting to change that impression is Cornelius de Kluyver, dean of the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management in Claremont. In the past several years, the school has launched a specialized degree in arts management and financial engineering.

"The point is, we are not putting all of our eggs in one basket," de Kluyver said. "We recognize that maturing markets tend to fragment into niches. And ultimately, there will be a revitalized set of management degrees."

Until that happens, business schools are focusing on the U.S. government's visa policy for international students. Since 9-11, tightened sanctions for obtaining visas are creating yet another obstacle for the nation's business schools.

The Anderson School at the University of California, Los Angeles, partially attributes its decline in applicants to stringent visa requirements. "But I wouldn't say we have revised our program based on these trends," said David Lewin, a professor of management and senior associate dean for UCLA's MBA program. "We have changed the program based on what we think people would be attracted to right now." That includes entertainment management and sports marketing courses.

California State Universities, Northridge and Long Beach, are also trying to attract students to their executive MBA programs. For Northridge, that means appealing to applicants' daily schedules, as well as their academic endeavors. And for Long Beach, the goal is to tempt more international students by highlighting a U.S. program that allows them to work and go to school at the same time.

"We've seen a difference between global trends and local trends for our students," said H. Michael Chung, director of graduate programs and executive education at CSULB. "And we'll continue to update our curriculum to adjust to changes in the market. And so far, this past summer has been very hot for us."