AACSB Data and Research Blog

Preliminary Results From the 2017–18 Business School Questionnaire

By Jeanine Romano

Data collection for the 2017–18 AASCB Business School Questionnaire (BSQ) and BSQ Finances Module officially closed in early June. We have had record participation this year, with 972 of our member schools submitting a BSQ and 587 submitting a BSQ Finances Module

Since our June closing date, AACSB’s Business Education Intelligence (BEI) team has been reviewing each survey to help ensure that schools are submitting valid, reliable, and complete data. Data integrity is our top priority, so even though we do have validation processing rules programmed into the survey submission system, we also read through each submitted survey and assist schools when necessary. This may seem like a rather arduous process to some but it will lead to a data set that our members can be confident is as accurate as possible and truly germane to their benchmarking and peer analysis.

So far we have validated and accepted 426 BSQs and anticipate releasing the rest of the data by the end of September. As a benefit of participating, all member schools that submitted the surveys will have access to the custom report tools available in DataDirect

Here’s what can we tell you based on data from the 426 surveys we have accepted so far:

• A little less than half of these schools reported that their undergraduate students are mostly residential, whereas almost two-thirds of all graduate students are commuters.
• Close to 60 percent of the schools reported that they have updated their strategic plans within the last 18 months.
• Almost half of respondents indicated that teaching was their sole highest priority, whereas about 12 percent indicated that intellectual contribution was their sole highest priority.
• The median operating budget for these schools was over 11 million USD, but the average was a little less than 22 million USD.
• About 75 percent of these schools indicated that they offered at least one bachelor’s degree in accounting. A little less than this percentage also reported that they offered a specialized master’s degree in accounting.
• This year we introduced data analytics into our field/discipline category. Less than 2 percent of reporting schools indicated that they offered a bachelor’s degree in this area of study, and about 8 percent indicated that they offered a specialized master’s degree in the discipline.
• Only 20 percent of all doctoral degrees were in the field of accounting, but 40 percent were in the field of management.
• Nearly 82 percent of schools indicated that they offered at least one MBA program.
• Almost twice as many students on average at these schools are enrolled in part-time programs than in full-time programs.

But these are just preliminary results of only 426 schools. When we have finished reviewing and accepting all of our schools’ surveys, will we see something different? What about undergraduate enrollments, faculty, staff, and admissions? What are the differences in these figures based on location, mission, size, and other factors? And how are schools’ program portfolios, enrollments, staffing structures, and financial situations changing

In the coming months you will see some blog posts on the complete set of data, where we’ll be diving into questions such as: What is the state of data analytics as program of study? Where are the trends in online MBA? How do salary versus non-salary expenditures vary depending on what a school emphasizes? Are the percentages of women in faculty roles increasing?—to name just a few

AACSB strives to be widely recognized as the primary source for data and analysis on business education globally. We look forward to receiving the submissions for all schools and being able to provide our members with an even more accurate picture of the current state of business schools.

Trends in Employment of Business School Graduates (Part II): Industry of Employment for Full-time MBAs

By Colin Nelson

For the past few years, AACSB has collaborated with the MBA Career Services Employer Alliance (MBA CSEA) to deliver their annual survey of MBA graduate data as part of AACSB’s BSQ Employment Module. While the AACSB data entry sections of the survey gather basic employment data for graduates of degree programs at all levels, the MBA CSEA sections (which conform to their standards for full-time MBA programs) take a deeper dive into the specific employment outcomes of full-time MBA program graduates.

Figure 1. Full-time MBA Graduates by Industry of Employment, Numbers and Weighted Average Starting Salaries

Note: Data come from 89 AACSB-accredited business schools that completed the MBA CSEA data entry sections of the BSQ Employment Module in all three years.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of graduates gravitate to the industries with the highest average salaries in each year, although it is interesting to see the direction of some of the trend lines in the tab labeled “FT MBA Graduates Accepting Position.” For example, the numbers of MBA graduates reporting that they accepted a position in the consulting and financial services industries (the two highest-paying of all industries on the list, on average) have dropped 5 to 6 percent over the past three years. This is in spite of the fact that the average starting salary reported in both industries increased by a similar percentage over that same period.

In contrast, the numbers of MBA graduates reporting that they accepted a position in the technology sector increased nearly 17 percent, despite the fact that the average reported starting salary only increased by 2.5 percent over the last three years. A particularly surprising finding was the overall increase in average reported starting salary for graduates going into either government or transportation and logistics services. These were the highest two increases of all industries on the list, although it is likely that the small number of such graduates may be skewing the averages somewhat.

Data Sneak Peek! Joint Study on the Digital Generation

By Hanna McLeod

At the close of 2017, AACSB International together with the EMBA Council and UNICON completed a research study exploring how business education providers can better align their education models and strategies to meet the needs of the “digital generation.” The study aims to shed light on opportunities business schools have for creating both degree-based and non-degree-based education offerings in light of this population’s learning attitudes and career/professional development motivations.

A survey was conducted by a commissioned research firm, Percept Research, that yielded a total of 1,665 respondents and segmented results for those representing the digital generation (those between the ages of 21-30) as well as those between ages 31-40, across 10 countries. The results provide interesting insights, particularly differences across various demographic factors, such as gender, age, career experience, and previous educational experiences. AACSB research staff plan to highlight deeper dives into data in the weeks to come, but a few interesting highlights include:

• More than 50 percent of respondents who already have graduate business or management degrees remain Extremely/Very Likely to pursue these traditional degrees in the next ten years and 60 percent of respondents are Extremely/Very Likely to pursue MBA or MA/MS in Business. Such findings suggest that advanced management education degrees continue to hold a respected position in the marketplace.
• However, despite the serious intent to pursue these degrees, respondents do not always find them the most attractive option: among those who are Extremely Likely to pursue an MBA or MA/MS in Business, just 22 percent found established programs to be the most attractive method of pursuing advanced management education vs. a more self-directed approach or a just-in-time set of courses identified with an employer.
• Results suggest that non-traditional options e.g., certificates and digital badges are gaining credibility and interest, with over 25 percent of respondents indicating that they believe such options can substitute for a formal degree, and 90 percent indicating they see some value in these options as either a substitute, complement, or both.

Stay tuned for more announcements and information regarding the study’s results, as well as posts that will delve into areas such as attitudes towards professional growth and learning, motivations, demographic differences, views on credentialing, formal vs. informal learning, and interest in non-traditional educational providers.

 

 

MBA Graduates’ Starting Salaries by Professional Function (Part II)

By Colin Nelson

As promised in my last post, here is a preview of the 2016–17 data from the BSQ Employment Module’s MBA CSEA sections:

Table 1. MBA Graduates’ Starting Salaries by Professional Function

Professional Function	N of Schools Reporting	N of Graduates Reporting	Weighted Average Salary (USD)
Consulting	75	2,001	$123,720
Finance/Accounting	90	1,934	$114,064
General Management	62	740	$107,396
Marketing/Sales	82	1,366	$102,844
Information Technology	25	112	$97,699
Other	59	416	$97,270
Operations/Logistics	70	558	$95,915
Human Resources	12	38	$83,952

Source: 2016–17 BSQ Employment Module—MBA CSEA Sections. Notes: All salary data represent weighted averages, based on the number of MBA graduates reporting salaries in each category.

As compared to the same data from the previous year’s survey, the number of schools reporting graduates in each function rose across the board, likely due to the fact that nearly 22 percent more schools completed the MBA CSEA sections of the survey in 2016–17 than in the previous year. However, the breakdown of professional functions has a very different configuration in terms of average salaries and numbers of graduates.

Table 2. Percentage Change From 2015–16 to 2016–17

Professional Function	N of Schools Reporting	N of Graduates Reporting	Weighted Average Salary (USD)
Information Technology	8.7%	16.7%	6.2%
Marketing/Sales	10.8%	12.2%	2.4%
Finance/Accounting	23.3%	3.0%	1.2%
Consulting	5.6%	-1.5%	1.1%
General Management	12.7%	5.6%	0.1%
Operations/Logistics	32.1%	18.5%	-1.2%
Other	18.0%	-14.9%	-3.7%
Human Resources	20.0%	31.0%	-12.0%

Source: BSQ Employment Module—MBA CSEA Sections.

As you can see, the least significant changes over last year in the average salaries and numbers of graduates reporting accepting positions occurred in the top three professional functions by average salary (Consulting, Finance/Accounting, and General Management). The most significant changes generally occurred within the fields with the fewest graduates reporting accepted positions. IT, for example, has seen a significant boost in both areas over last year, while the average HR starting salary saw an even more precipitous decline. Of course, it makes sense that the functions with the fewest graduates reporting accepted positions would have more significant changes, due simply to the smaller sample size, but it makes me wonder whether that is the only factor, or whether it is also reflective of general industry trends.

The data from the 2016–17 BSQ Employment Module’s MBA CSEA sections is now available to participating schools within our DataDirect system.

MBA Graduates’ Starting Salaries by Professional Function (Part I)

By Colin Nelson

For the past three years, AACSB has collaborated with the MBA Career Services Employer Alliance (MBA CSEA) to deliver their annual survey of MBA graduate data in conjunction with the Employment Module of AACSB’s Business School Questionnaire (BSQ). Among the many data points gathered by this survey are data on the starting salaries of MBA graduates by a number of factors, including the industry in which they receive employment, the geographic location of their employment, their level of pre-MBA program work experience, and more. Table 1 shows a sample of these data, broken out by the professional function in which they serve:

Table 1. MBA Graduates’ Starting Salaries by Professional Function

Professional Function	N of Schools Reporting	N of Graduates Reporting	Weighted Average Salary (USD)
Consulting	71	2,032	$122,433
Finance/Accounting	73	1,878	$112,695
General Management	55	701	$107,292
Other	50	489	$101,041
Marketing/Sales	74	1,218	$100,433
Operations/Logistics	53	471	$97,119
Human Resources	10	29	$95,453
Information Technology	23	96	$91,957

Source: 2015–16 BSQ Employment Module—MBA CSEA Sections. Notes: All salary data represent weighted averages, based on the number of MBA graduates reporting salaries in each category.

As one might expect, the professional functions with the largest average starting salaries are also the most popular, judging by the number of MBA graduates reporting employment. Interestingly, though, that pattern is interrupted, mainly due to the popularity of the Marketing/Sales category.

Look out for my next post, in which I will compare the same data from the 2016–17 iteration of the survey, prior to its upcoming release!

Continued Growth in Accessibility of AACSB-Accredited Online Degrees

By Colin Nelson

I’ve received a number of requests recently for an update to a post I wrote back in January 2013, regarding the trend toward greater numbers of AACSB-accredited schools offering fully online degree programs at various levels. It looks like this trend has only continued in the intervening years:

Figure 1. Number of AACSB-Accredited Schools Reporting Fully Online Programs, by Level

Notes: This chart includes data from a controlled set of 521 accredited schools that responded to the AACSB Business School Questionnaire (BSQ) in all five years. Each school may have more than one fully online program at each level.

Five hundred and twenty-one AACSB-accredited schools, representing 36 countries and territories worldwide, participated in each of the last five annual BSQ surveys. Figure 1 above shows that the proportion of this set of schools that reported offering one or more of their degree programs, at any level, in a fully online delivery format has grown from 25 to 37 percent over the past five years.

While fully online programs at the Masters-Generalist (MBA) level saw the highest rise in absolute number of schools offering them, the percentage gains in the numbers of specialized master’s and especially bachelor’s degree programs offered fully online were significantly more robust (more than 67 and 80 percent increases, respectively, versus 44 percent for the general business master’s programs). In my earlier post, programs at the Masters-Generalist (MBA) level were the primary driver for the increase in schools with fully online programs at any level, so this new data may indicate a shift in focus, at least within this controlled set.

Online doctoral programs remain the notable exception to this trend. None of the schools in the controlled set reported offering a fully online doctoral program. In fact, as of this writing, only one AACSB-accredited school has ever reported a fully online doctoral program on the BSQ, namely the Management School of the University of Liverpool (not a member of the controlled set), which offers a fully online DBA program.

It is also worth noting that the growth in the number of AACSB-accredited schools offering such programs remains almost entirely driven by schools based in the U.S.:

Table 1. Schools Offering Fully Online Programs by Country/Territory

Notes: This table includes data from a controlled set of 521 accredited schools that responded to the AACSB Business School Questionnaire (BSQ) in all five years, and N equals the total number of schools from each country/territory in the set. There were three Chinese schools outside of Hong Kong in the controlled set, but none of them reported fully online programs. Each school may have more than one fully online program at each level.

Although American schools make up about 79 percent of the schools in the total controlled set, they consistently make up 94–95 percent of the schools reporting fully online programs at any level. So why are accredited schools in other countries not showing similar levels of growth in this increasingly popular delivery mode?

For one thing, although the BSQ does not collect data on blended/hybrid programs, we know anecdotally that programs providing some online or asynchronous content are growing in number. It may be that more schools outside the U.S. are opting for blended/hybrid programs versus fully online delivery. Another reason may be that, from the student perspective, the physical location of the school offering fully online programs does not matter as much as the quality of the programs themselves. Nevertheless, as fully online delivery continues to grow in popularity, it will be interesting to see if more schools from all over the world begin to pioneer new programs in cyberspace.

A 5 Year Comparison of MBA/Master's Specialist Degree Program Disciplines

By Elliot Davis

In May, my colleague Jessica Brown provided a snapshot of MBA degree program disciplines, focusing on data collected in the 2013-14 AACSB Business School Questionnaire (BSQ). Her data found that, among AACSB-accredited schools, General Business and Management are the runaway leaders with respect to disciplines offered for MBA degrees, collectively accounting for 51.4 percent of all MBA programs offered. This shouldn’t be particularly surprising, as MBA degrees are often positioned to provide a broader, more generalized understanding of management, whereas, those seeking more specific interests often seek a specialized master’s degree. 

Snapshots used in this way are valuable for gauging the number of program offerings among a group of respondents at a given point in time. Looking at Jessica’s data, I was curious about how the makeup of MBA degree program disciplines had changed over time. Instead of looking at year-over-year change, which results in a smaller sample size, I decided to take two snapshots utilizing a controlled set of 592 schools (disregarding accreditation status) that reported in both 2009-10 and 2013-14 BSQs. For the purposes of this post, I will be rounding out to two spaces, so that the smaller changes are not lost due to rounding. 

MBA Degree Program Disciplines

Among MBA degree program disciplines, the greatest increase with respect to the total was the general business program discipline, which saw a 3.80 percent growth during this period. While the total number of MBA programs reported declined by 114 within this controlled set, the general business discipline increased by 21 total programs. Looking at the other end of the spectrum, CIS/MIS, e-business (including e-commerce), and Other (which would include a wide assortment of miscellaneous programs) saw the greatest declines, though these declines were rather nominal, at just (0.78 percent), (0.53 percent), and (0.50 percent) respectively.

Using the same controlled set of 592 schools and instead looking at Master’s Specialist programs during this period, there are (unsurprisingly) some stark differences.

Master’s Specialist Degree Program Disciplines

While MBA programs saw a decline in total programs, Master’s Specialist programs actually saw a 142 program increase overall. The discipline which was the greatest benefactor of this increase was finance, which added 32 new programs, giving it a 1.05 percent growth with respect to the total percentage of Master’s Specialist programs offered. Accounting saw a similarly favorable spike, growing by 22 programs. Interestingly though, due to the overall increase in Master’s Specialist programs offered, the Accounting discipline actually fell by 0.52 percent with respect to the total. The greatest increases with respect to their percentage of the total, other than finance, were general business, strategic management, and quantitative methods. As was the case with the MBA, e-business declined, losing 3 programs.

Which degree programs disciplines do you expect to see make headway in the next five years? Which will see the greatest decline? And, to what do you attribute the gains made by degree program disciplines such as the Master’s Specialist in Finance, or the General Business MBA? Share your thoughts in the comments or let us know at [email protected]. 

Emerging Trends in MOOC Delivery of Business Education

By Colin Nelson

In past posts, I have touched on the subject of business school activity in the realm of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which over the short period of time I looked at them previously had begun to grow rapidly. Today, however, there is a sea change in both the quantity and types of institutions offering MOOCs in the business education space, in the types of instructors teaching them, and, especially, in the types of courses being offered.

As in my previous posts, I examined many of the available MOOC providers that offer courses in the management education space, including Coursera, edX, Udacity, Futurelearn, the Canvas Network, and the Academic Financial Trading Platform (AFTP). Most of these providers have either maintained or grown their offerings since last I looked in on this topic[1]:

Figure 1. Business MOOCs by Platform and AACSB Accreditation Status of Provider Institutions, as of 6/30/2015

Note: The numbers on the graph bars indicate the actual absolute numbers of business-related MOOCs offered by the given provider type.

 

Figure 2. Institutions Offering Business MOOCs by Platform and AACSB Accreditation Status, as of 6/30/2015

Note: The numbers on the graph bars indicate the actual absolute numbers of provider institutions of the given type.

As you can see, the majority of MOOCs are still run by universities or other tertiary-level educational institutions, but a growing number of business-related MOOCs are being offered by institutions for whom academics are a less central focus. Evidence for this trend exists even at the most established MOOC platforms. For example, some of the business-related MOOCs available on the edX platform are delivered by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), or the International Monetary Fund (IMF), while Coursera hosts a MOOC delivered by economists from the World Bank Group.

Additionally, more and more of the business-related MOOCs I looked at are being taught by faculty from outside the business school, or by professionals such as accountants or economists, either in tandem with business school faculty or on their own. Both of the MOOCs offered on edX by Harvard Business School are co-taught with faculty from other departments, while on Coursera, only three out of 15 business-related MOOCs of the University of California, Irvine, are taught by a faculty member from the Merage School (the remainder are taught by UCI-Extension faculty).

Table 1. Proportion of Non-Business School Instructors of Business-Related MOOCs, by Platform, as of 6/30/2015

MOOC Platform	Total Number of Instructors Involved in Business MOOCs	Percentage from Outside Business Schools
Coursera	171	18.7%
edX	138	64.5%
Futurelearn	21	14.3%
AFTP	6	0.0%

Perhaps the most important development, however, is the increasing appearance of MOOC series that can be pursued for relatively low-cost credentialing options (at least when compared to the cost of a degree). EdX, for example, offers XSeries Certificates for completing a series of three to five related MOOCs, such as the Supply Chain Management XSeries of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Coursera likewise offers Specialization Certificates for completing short sequences of four to nine related MOOCs, usually including a capstone project, such as the Business Foundations Specialization of the Wharton School. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is now taking this evolution one step further, announcing the iMBA program, which will allow students to compile multiple Coursera Specialization Certificates into a full MBA degree, presumably at a fraction of the typical cost.

Finally, newer platforms have begun to expand various free or low-cost MOOC offerings available in the management education space, such as Silicon Valley’s NovoEd, India-based EduKart, France Université Numérique (FUN), and Chinese-language platforms ewant and xuetangX. Some business schools are experimenting with independent offerings as well. Stanford Graduate School of Business offers many individual business MOOCs and full certificate programs, other than the ones it runs through Coursera and NovoEd, on iTunesU and on its own proprietary platform (Stanford OpenEdX). Harvard Business School also runs its HBX program independently of the edX platform that Harvard University co-founded with MIT.

It seems clear that business education MOOCs are here to stay, but whether they will become a widely accepted part of higher educational credentialing remains to be seen.

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[1] Changes to the web format of the Canvas Network catalog of MOOCs since I last looked in on this topic have made it virtually impossible to determine who teaches the business-related courses offered via that platform or the total number of them; hence they are not considered further here. Udacity offers exactly one business-related MOOC in entrepreneurship, taught by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Steve Blank (no academic affiliation).

Re(Designing the B-School Curriculum)

By Elliot Davis

Business schools are preparing students for the future of work, iterating and redesigning their programs to get out ahead of industry trends and develop content that carries both immediate relevancy while also offering lasting, even lifetime, value. This is certainly a tall order, but is a challenge that many business schools have taken on. The recently concluded Curriculum Conference: Re(Invest+Think+Design) explored ways in which a curriculum may be redesigned to balance these needs. As a precursor to this conference, AACSB hosted three symposia on the topic of Redesigning the MBA. The symposia agendas focused on a number of topical areas relevant to the MBA, including items such as managing in a global context, leadership development, innovation and creativity, critical thinking and communication skills, and experiential learning.  We reached out to the attendees of those symposia years later, to check-in and see what changes had been made to their programs following their time at the event.

What we found was quite intriguing. Seventy-four percent of those surveyed indicated that they had attended the symposium because their school was either considering or in the midst of an MBA redesign. As such, it was not surprising that since attending the symposia, 64 percent of respondents reported changes made to their MBA curriculum and/or program (86 percent of those stating that the symposium impacted the redesign). When asked what changes were made, 81 percent of respondents noted changes had been made to course or program content; 41 percent shared that changes had been made to their program’s architecture (which would consist largely of formatting changes, e.g., changing credit hour requirements); and 37 percent mentioned changes in pedagogical approach (such as new modes of teaching delivery).  

Many of the content-related changes involved the creation of a new set of coursework, including business plan capstones, professional development (and "soft" competency development) activities, and case competitions. Some schools have sought to close the gap between academe and industry. For instance, a school in India noted the creation of a program that partners students with businesses for their final term, with the student working in an internship-like capacity. A U.K.-based university has developed a module designed for the student's personal career development, focusing on self-reflection and post-graduation planning.

With respect to architectural changes, schools reported a wide range of outcomes, from tweaks to entire overhauls of their programs. Some of the reported changes were more minor in nature, such as a school in Canada that gave MBA students the option of waiving two courses if they would instead complete a project. A more significant change came from a school in India, which changed from a trimester system to a semester system, along with redesigning several existing courses and introducing a new foundations program for incoming students. Several schools reported reducing the credit-hour requirement on “core” coursework, or essential classes, while increasing elective credit-hour requirements. Changes of this sort may be aimed at providing students with added flexibility in catering their studies to their own preferences and career aspirations.

The pedagogical changes were just as varied, with schools implementing new modes of delivery, such as online and distance-learning courses. Additionally, there has been a growth in focus on creating learning environments and objectives that are experiential in nature. One school in Oceania mentioned a changed pedagogical approach to teaching through the introduction of an experientially based strategic consulting program. A school in Canada introduced a preparatory math and Microsoft Excel (spreadsheet software) “boot camp,” designed to ensure that all students have an equal footing in these areas.

If you are interested in learning more about what other schools are doing within their curriculum and what should be done to better prepare your school’s programming for the future, keep your eye on the Curriculum Development Series. Until then, what has your school been redesigning in the curriculum? 

2013-14 Snapshot of MBA and EMBA Degree Program Disciplines Offered at AACSB-Accredited Schools

By Jessica Brown

MBA and EMBA are two of the many business degree paths that students may choose to enhance their education and careers. While the master’s generalist category includes a number of different degree titles that are considered broadly equivalent in educational focus to the MBA, the most immediately recognized and discussed are probably the MBA and EMBA. These two degree titles are what a lot of people think of first when looking for a business school, but, once students reach out to potential schools, it becomes clear that choosing the degree title is just the first step. Which disciplines are available and how those programs are delivered can be as important to students as the degree title itself. Business schools worldwide differentiate their degree programs in a variety of ways, from student experience and research opportunities to detailed focuses on specific fields and delivering programs in the times and ways that work best for their students’ needs.

On the 2013-14 AACSB Business School Questionnaire (BSQ), 533 AACSB-accredited schools worldwide reported offering at least one MBA degree, while 243 reported offering at least one EMBA degree. The overall numbers show that an average of four MBA programs and one EMBA program are offered at each school, but when the data are broken down by region, the number of MBA programs per school is highest among reporting schools in the Americas. As the data from the Americas represent more than 80 percent of the reporting schools, breaking out the regional data is one way to better understand how the data reported by AACSB-accredited schools from other areas of the world may differ.

2013-14 Programs Reported with MBA or EMBA Degree Titles at AACSB-Accredited Schools

 

* Please note that this region includes a small comparison group of reporting schools.

One way that schools can differentiate their programs is by offering specific field or discipline concentrations for their degrees. Depending on the school, this approach may be in the form of an official discipline for each degree (such as awarding an MBA in accounting) or as a major focus for the degree (such as awarding a MBA degree with a concentration or focus on accounting). On the annual BSQ, schools are asked to provide a focus discipline for each degree program listed. For many MBA programs, the discipline may be listed as General Business to indicate that the program is an overall generalist degree without any additional specialization, but increasingly MBA programs are being reported with different disciplines as schools continue to tailor their MBA programs to meet student and industry needs.

The data charts below illustrate that General Business and Management are still the strong leaders among the disciplines offered for both EMBA and MBA degrees, but other disciplines are also well represented. While General Business and Management were the most commonly reported disciplines for the EMBA degree (86.9 percent of reported EMBA programs), at the MBA degree title, those two disciplines accounted for only 51.4 percent of the reported MBA programs. At the MBA degree title, Finance, Marketing, and Other (a category for disciplines beyond the standard 27 disciplines collected on AACSB surveys) were the next most commonly reported disciplines, with another 28.4 percent of MBA programs reported with one of the remaining 23 disciplines.

2013–14 BSQ: Five Most Common Fields or Disciplines by Percentage of MBA Degree Programs Reported

 

For the EMBA, while other disciplines represented a smaller portion of those reported overall, the disciplines other than General Business and Management that appeared in the five most commonly reported were not the same as those for the MBA. At the EMBA level, International Business and Health Services / Hospital Administration joined the Other category to complete the top five.

2013–14 BSQ: Five Most Common Fields or Disciplines by Percentage of EMBA Degree Programs Reported

 

 

[This content is also available in eNEWSLINE, May 2015.]