Tech is taking over and it’s making the MBA even more valuable today.
“Successful MBA programs need to look ahead and prepare students for the business challenges of tomorrow not only for those of today,” Andrea Masini, associate dean of HEC Paris MBA, says in a Quora post. “Therefore, with the pervasive digitalization of our economy and the increasing importance of technology in our society, I would say that an MBA degree is more valuable than ever.”
The Rise of the MBA in Tech
In a recent analysis of the employment reports of the top 25 schools, P&Q found that an average of 22% of the Class of 2017 went into the technology industry. Just five years ago, the same group of 25 schools only saw an average of 16.5% go into the tech industry.
What are some of the top tech companies hiring MBA? Amazon, Microsoft, and Google just to name a few. Amazon reportedly hires 1,000 MBAs a year – a record for any MBA employer in history. To put that in context, McKinsey & Co. hires roughly 550 graduates annually, while Bain & Co. brings in roughly 500 MBAs a year.
“It’s one of the smartest companies on the planet, and it has become a training ground for MBAs,” says Shashi Matta, faculty director of the MBA program at Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business. “They are absolutely hungry for talent and growth.”
How Tech and the MBA Go Hand in Hand
Knowing tech is one thing but knowing the business behind it is another. Experts say this is the reason behind why tech demands MBAs.
“MBA graduates are among the few professionals able speak both the language of business and the language of technology, bridging the gap between these two worlds,” Masini writes. “This is a badly needed skill nowadays.”
And b-schools have been quick to keep up with the demand. At UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, the curriculum has been updated to meet tech demand by students.
“Back in 2011-12, as we saw the student demand for enhanced tech employment preparation really manifest itself, we had discussions with students about what resources they needed to be competitive,” Robert Weiler, associate dean for the full-time MBA program at Anderson, tells P&Q. ”Classes were vital, as were seminars to cover industry happenings. As you might imagine, ‘Technology’ is not a traditional academic area in business schools, so we had to go out more broadly to find practitioners who could supplement what our faculty were able to teach. We offered an important foundational tech course series called Emerging Technologies in spring 2012, and out of that grew a much broader technology curriculum.”
Weiler says the fast pace of change in the tech industry drives change in the b-school environment.
“It will always be a race to stay current and to deliver a cutting-edge education to our students,” he says. “This is a huge benefit of the Easton Center, because of where it sits — directly between the tech business community and our academic expertise. It is so well-positioned to be current and to offer our students the pertinent information they need to be competitive candidates for technology jobs. That is exciting — and keeps us moving!”
Sources: Quora, Poets & Quants, Poets & Quants
Test Exemptions for International Students
There’s good news for international students who struggle with standardized testing.
A number of US b-schools have policies that allow international applicants to bypass exams like the TOEFL and GRE, U.S. News reports.
Exemptions for English Proficiency Exams
More than 30 million people from all over the world have taken the TOEFL test to demonstrate their English-language proficiency, according to Educational Testing Service.
The exam, known as the Test of English as a Foreign Language, is accepted by more than 10,000 colleges, agencies and other institutions in over 130 countries.
Yet, a number of U.S. grad schools offer exemptions to the requirement.
For instance, according to U.S. News, at the University of Deleware, the Conditional Admissions Program (CAP) is offered to grad students who are qualified for admission, but lack English proficiency.
“Students can first enroll in CAP to build their skills before beginning their graduate program, without needing a score on the IELTS or TOEFL, the two common standardized English proficiency tests,” U.S. News reports.
Nancy Svenson, associate vice president for enrollment for graduate and professional enrollment at the University of Redlands, says the school offers exemption to its English testing requirement for students who can demonstrate English proficiency in other ways.
“International applicants who completed their undergraduate degree in English may request to have the TOEFL waived, as well as applicants who have an in-person interview with an admissions counselor or faculty,”Svenson tells U.S. News.
Other Factors Could Waive GRE and GMAT
At a number of U.S. grad schools, there are exemptions available to the GRE and GMAT requirements.
DePaul University in Chicago offers over 175 graduate degree programs, many of which do not require the GRE or GMAT exam, according to Suzanne Depeder, associate vice president of graduate and adult admission in the marketing division of DePaul University.
In addition, the school offers case-by-case exemptions. For instance, if a student has work experience or a U.S. degree, he or she may eligible for a GRE waiver.
While the GMAT is a requirement at the majority of b-schools across the nation, select schools don’t require it for admission.
University of Dallas Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business, Ohio University’s professional MBA program and the University of Redlands MBA program all don’t have GMAT requirements for their MBA programs, according to U.S. News.
In addition, schools like DePaul’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business and Golden Gate University in California, offer GMAT waivers if an international student has work experience or a U.S. degree.
Jigar Trivedi, who is an international MBA student at the University of Redlands, says he took the GRE twice, but felt ill-prepared for the exam. Eventually, Trivedi was accepted to the University of Redlands based off other areas of his application.
“Merely a few hours of testing will not decide your future goals and neither should demotivate you,” Trivedi tells U.S. News. “Aptitude tests are part of applications but not the decision maker of your career.”
Sources: U.S. News, Educational Testing Service
Choose Your Loan Repayment Plan Wisely
The amount you repay for your education loans, given delinquency rates, could differ based on what plan you choose, new data released by the Department of Education suggests.
The report found that borrowers under the age of 24 have the highest 31-day-plus delinquency rate at 18.2%. For borrowers age 62 and older, the number is 13.7%.
Income-Driven Repayment Plans
According to U.S. News, the Department of Education offers a number of income-driven repayment plans, or IDR plans, that forgive some of your student loans down the line.
One plan sticks out amongst the list. The Revised Pay As You Earn plan (REPAYE) has the lowest 31-day-plus delinquency rate at 4%, according to the Education Department’s student loan portfolio reports.
REPAYE Limits Payment Amount
The REPAYE plan limits your payments to 10% of your discretionary income. Eligible individuals include all Direct Loan, Stafford, and Graduate PLUS borrowers, according to Student Hero.
Under the REPAYE plan, balances due for your undergraduate degree are ultimately forgiven after you make 20 years of eligible payments, according to Student Hero.
However, as U.S. News notes, there’s a slight requirement that’s important to know.
The REPAYE Plan requires borrowers to submit their income and household size information once a year by the annual deadline. If this isn’t submitted, the Department of Education enters you into an alternative repayment plan, where monthly payments could increase.
According to U.S. News, the alternative payment plan isn’t based on your income, but rather, require that students repay the full loan in either “10 years from the start of the alternative plan or from the end date of the 20 or 25 years of the REPAYE period.”
Borrowers under the alternative repayment tend to default at the highest rate, 29%, according to U.S. News.
For more information about Income Driven Repayment Plans, check out the US Department of Education’s website.
Sources: U.S. News, Student Hero, US Department of Education
International Students Aren’t Getting Jobs In The US
Applications at U.S. business schools are rising. For international applicants, those MBA degrees aren’t translating to full-time jobs.
More than two-thirds of MBA programs that took part in a new MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance survey reported a decrease in opportunities available to international candidates, The Pie News reports.
At the top MBA schools, international students make up between 30% and 40% of the student population. At a number of mid-tier schools, international students make up close to half or the majority of the student population. And despite bringing in more than $35 billion to the US economy, according to the Washington Post, 68% of responding institutions report that job opportunities for international MBA students have decreased.
For international students who choose to earn a specialized degree, the situation isn’t much better.
“More than 40% of responding schools also reported a decline in job opportunities for international ‘specialized masters’ students, such as those taking master’s in management,” according to The Pie News.
U.S. Losing International Applicants
The New York Times recently reported that the number of new foreign students declined an average of 7% this past fall, according to figures from the Institute of International Education’s survey of 500 colleges.
One theory for the reason? President Trump’s election and the restricted immigration policies.
With visa applications under heavy scrutiny and some nationalities even being banned from entering the U.S., college administrators are worried that their international student population will continue to decline.
“As you lose those students, then the tuition revenue is negatively impacted as well,” Michael Godard, the interim provost at the University of Central Missouri, tells The New York Times. “We’ve had to make some decisions, budgetary decisions, to adjust.”
Roger Best, executive vice president and chief operating officer at University of Central Missouri, tells The New York Times that the school has had to make a number of budget cuts as a result of its declining international student population. From cutting instructors to deferring maintenance to cutting money in the campus newspaper, the school has lost revenue of close to $14 million.
In an NPR report, news director Stan Jastrzebski illustrates the dire effect that the Trump administration has had on the international student population in higher education.
“Multiple admissions officials say the U.S. is no longer the education Mecca it once was, in part because of the perception that the welcome mat has been pulled by the Trump administration,” he reports. “Add to that better schools in countries like China and India and increased competition from those in countries like Australia. And combined, it likely adds up to fewer international students coming here.”
Sources: The Pie News, MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance, Poets & Quants, Washington Post, The New York Times, NPR
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