Rise in Business School Applications Globally in 2024: GMAC Survey

November 4, 2024: GMAC’s Applications Trends Survey is based on responses between June and August 2024 from 1,090 programs in 297 business schools across 40 countries.

Applications to graduate business school programs worldwide have risen by 12% from 2023 to 2024, reversing the trend of declines in the last 2 years according to the latest survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). The increase is due to business schools offering more financial assistance for the incoming classes of 2024, addressing a major barrier of cost recognised by prospective students.

According to the GMAC in this survey, cost is one of the key barriers to a master/PhD management degree for prospective business school students. Hence, business programmes offering financial assistance to more members of incoming classes in 2024 coincided with the increase in application volume.

Another reason for an increase in applications is renewed interest in full-time and regular MBA programs, with 60% of such programs reporting growth. Primarily, 80% of full-time two-year MBA programs and 64% of one-year programs saw increased applications. Approximately 75% of accounting and management MS courses reported an increase in applications. Studies show that flexible programmes are also preferred by prospects. Online and hybrid programs experienced growth, with 58% and 52% increases, respectively.
GMAC Survey shows that along with the regained popularity of traditional regular courses, flexible learning options are equally in high demand. Joy Jones, CEO of GMAC commented on the growth in applications to innovative efforts and advancements of business schools worldwide. The majority of flexible/traditional MBA programmes have experienced more domestic applications than international ones.

The US followed by Asia and Europe, excluding the UK, has witnessed increased demand for graduate business education through domestic applications. The UK experienced a 45% and 12% decrease in domestic and international applications respectively.

Also, applications from women have increased, making up 42% of total applications which was consistently at 40% in the last decade. There is a 10-point increase from last year in female applicants for programmes. Especially MBAs seeing notable growth in this demographic with 70% of flexible and two-thirds of full-time MBA programs. The upward trend is praised by Elissa Sangster, CEO of Forté. She emphasized how valuable business education is in bridging the gap between genders for business leadership.