Thursday’s Headlines: Is the Full-time MBA Obsolete?

Traditional two-year full-time MBA degrees are falling out of favor, replaced with accounting and master's in finance and management degrees, according to articles in Businessweek and Fortune. The numbers apparently are following hiring trends:

The Graduate Management Admissions Council reports that applications to traditional MBA programs were “down significantly” at 67 percent of B-schools in 2011, and more than two-thirds of master's in management programs are seeing a surge in enrollment. Further, a survey of 16,000 prospective students who registered with GMAT’s mba.com found:

• Respondents who considered two-year MBA programs dropped from 47 percent in 2009 to 42 percent in 2011
• Those thinking about one-year programs dropped from 42 percent to 38 percent
• Those considering the master of accounting jumped from 13 percent to 16 percent
• Those considering a master of finance rose from 18 percent to 20 percent

Fortune notes that while tuition for an MBA can run as high as $100,000, a master's in management goes for an average of $30,000 – even lower for students attending in-state public schools. Plus, master's in management degrees can usually be had in nine months versus two full-time years for a traditional MBA program. The dean of Arizona State University, which is creating a new master's in management degree program, told the monthly magazine: “We're hearing from corporate recruiters that they want liberal arts and engineering grads who have some basic business knowledge as well” – underscoring the demand for such programs.

 

Other News:

Carlyle named seven new members and earned a 2011 profit. [DealBook]

More than 50 private equity firms are trying to make deals in Turkey. [DealBook]

Citi was shocked by its failing stress test grade. [WSJ]

UBS slashed its 2011 bonus pool by 40 percent. [WSJ]

Fed Chairman Bernanke says community banks are strengthening. [AP]

UBS paid its wealth management head $9.9 million, about $3 million more than its CEO. [NY Times]

The $25 billion mortgage settlement includes multimillion-dollar payments to whistle-blowers. [Reuters]

Kellogg career counselor offers advice on i-banker plan Bs. [Businessweek]

China’s Bank of Communications is planning a $8.9 billion IPO with HSBC. [Businessweek]