Forbes published yesterday its biennial MBA rankings, based entirely on
ROI five years after graduation. The top full-time programs
on this basis:
The Top Ten
(If you are going to use this data at all, please also read
Forbes’ ranking methodology.)
Forbes’ data show that part-time programs and non-US programs
clearly have a ROI edge on American full-time programs because they
reduce the students’ opportunity cost. The part-timers have no
opportunity cost and most overseas MBA programs are only one year,
which halves overseas students’ opportunity cost.
B-schools have struggled over the last three years with
sharply lower application volume. Jennifer Merritt in her April article
“MBA
Applicants are MIA”
notes:
“Perhaps the
toughest
issue is soaring tuition. At top-tier schools, tuition is up nearly 55%
over the past six years, to an average of $33,774 for each of the two
school years. And students bear far more than the cost of the degree.
With an average of five years’ work experience, the typical 27-year-old
student gives up an average pre-MBA salary of about
$67,000.”
She
also reports the increased popularity of part-time programs
and growing competitiveness of European programs.
Declining application volume could be a simple case of “follow the money.”
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