Demand for Graduate Management Education

Abstract

Business schools are planning for the future--to meet new market demands from candidates, employers, and governments alike, and to contend with the broader trends in population, educational attainment, and policy changes that shape the overall demand for graduate management education (GME). Some higher education institutions are thinking about upcoming "enrollment cliffs" or "demographic cliffs" that result from smaller populations of young people coming of age and enrolling in their programs. Some are operating under the impacts of recession risk, financial crises, or persistent unemployment, and others must continue to fill seats in their classrooms as their governments try to curb the number of international students allowed to migrate to the country. Under all of these conditions, how can business schools make sense of what factors may shape the future demand for GME? Where are the most potential GME candidates, where do they want to study, and why? To answer these questions, this report aims to identify in which markets the demand for GME is largest and strongest. The authors start by identifying macro-level trends in population growth and educational attainment. After establishing the scale of the potential and addressable markets in key geographies, the authors look at the distinct patterns of how candidates move across stages of considering, testing for, and applying to business school programs. The report concludes with five country profiles, which: (1) examine the economic and policy environment for international students intending to study in the country; and (2) describe the characteristics, motivations, and goals of that country's citizens who are interested in pursuing GME. Throughout the report, the authors rely on the World Bank and U.S. Census Bureau as centralized and authoritative sources of population-level information--though this results in some limitations in the recency of available data. In addition, the authors only have information about graduate level or all higher education rather than graduate business school specifically. For GME-specific trends, the authors leverage GMAC's data about prospective students, testing behavior, and application trends. More information about the data sources and research approach is available in the methodology section. Ultimately, the authors hope the information contained in this report can help deans and program directors shape their portfolios by deepening their understanding of the pipeline of talent and refining their offerings to meet the needs of their future students. Further, the authors aim to aid marketing, recruitment, and admissions professionals with tactical information to sharpen their messaging and success metrics in the largest and growing markets for GME around the world. By combining an understanding of macro-level trends with micro-level preferences and behaviors, this report aims to offer a comprehensive look at the current and future demand for GME.