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London Business School’s deputy dean said traditional elite MBA courses were “past their peak” as rising fees and new restrictions on UK student visas hit demand for long-term programmes.
LBS on Monday announced a new one-year version of its flagship 15-21 month Master of Business Administration degree in response to growing demand for shorter courses.
“We realized that the MBA as a degree is coming of age. Although it will take many years to operate, the peak of the MBA has passed,” says Julien, LBS associate dean in charge of master’s programs.・Mr Birkinshaw told the Financial Times.
He added that the more intensive course was becoming more popular in the UK and around the world than the traditional two-year program first offered at Harvard’s School of Business in 1908.
But demand for UK two-year MBA programs in particular has been hit by the government’s recent tightening of visa requirements, said Narisha Patel, regional director for Europe at the Graduate Management Admissions Council, which manages business school entrance exams. It is said that he is receiving
New restrictions on international students bringing their families to the UK are prompting many potential applicants to seek short courses, which GMAC research shows are more common in other parts of Europe. found.
“If you can’t bring dependents, a one-year MBA becomes more attractive,” Patel says.
Rising MBA tuition fees and the costs associated with prolonged absenteeism from work are also contributing to the decline in global demand, education experts say.
Tuition fees for an MBA at LBS in 2024 will be £115,000, up from £78,500 in 2018.
Mr Birkinshaw said Brexit had reduced the UK’s popularity as an MBA destination, but only slightly for LBS.
“Brexit didn’t help us, but it didn’t have a big impact on our applications.” [from the EU],” He said.
“We recruit top talent from a global talent pool, regardless of where they come from. Regional representation can vary from year to year. Our last graduating class was 83 Europeans But this was the same as in 2019, just before Brexit happened. However, that number may vary. Just after leaving the EU, it was 70.”
Applications for MBA courses worldwide for the 2023-24 academic year have fallen for the second year in a row, with a brief resurgence during the COVID-19 pandemic as people turned to formal education to improve their academic performance. After that, it decreased by about 5% compared to the previous year. GMAC research has found that skills are improving amid job insecurity.
It said more selective, traditional in-person programs were more likely to report declines.
GMAC’s survey of prospective students last year recorded for the first time that demand for one-year MBA programs, primarily offered in EU countries, was greater than for two-year courses.
In the US, one-year full-time MBAs are more likely to report growth than two-year courses, with 65% of schools offering the former reporting an increase in demand in the last year, compared to the latter. 48% of offering schools reported an increase in demand in the last year.
LBS’s new short-term MBA will initially be limited to students who have completed a professional master’s degree at LBS or another business school.
“The MBA remains attractive, but it’s particularly attractive to people from emerging economies looking to tap into job opportunities in Europe and the United States,” Birkinshaw said.