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Applications to U.S. graduate business programs plunged 25% in 2026, marking the steepest decline in nearly a decade.<\/p>\n
According to the data released Tuesday by the Graduate Management Admission Council, the drop reverses two consecutive years of application growth.<\/p>\n
A perfect storm of factors\u2014including economic uncertainty, shifting visa policies, and geopolitical tensions\u2014is weighing on demand. But the economy stands out as the biggest drag: 90% of graduate business programs surveyed said economic changes, including recession fears, layoffs, and shifts in the job market, affected application volumes, while 73% reported a major or moderate impact, the highest share of any factor.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a shift from the usual pattern: When jobs are scarce, people often turn to school to improve their prospects. But this time, economic uncertainty is making prospective Gen Z students think twice about the cost of another degree.<\/p>\n
It comes as entry-level jobs continue to be in the crossfire of AI.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One-third of employers said they were replacing entry-level jobs with AI, according to GMAC\u2019s Corporate Recruiters Survey released over the summer. More than half of the roughly 600 respondents recruit for Fortune 100 or Fortune 500 companies.<\/p>\n
MBA applications are on the decline\u2014but top schools still offer salary prospects of $175,000<\/p>\n
The decline extends to MBA programs specifically: Two-thirds of full-time MBA programs worldwide reported application declines, with applications falling 13% year over year.<\/p>\n
But the pullback isn\u2019t equally distributed. Applications to highly-selective programs, with acceptance rates below 40%, fell just 9%. At programs with acceptance rates above 85%, applications dropped 21%\u2014suggesting that even as prospective students grow more cautious about business school, selective programs are proving more resilient.<\/p>\n
The six-figure payoff may help explain why. Across the elite \u201cM7\u201d business schools\u2014Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, Northwestern Kellogg, MIT Sloan, University of Pennsylvania Wharton, and University of Chicago Booth\u2014roughly 90% of 2025 graduates seeking employment received job offers. Median base salaries for graduates who accepted jobs reached at least $175,000 at each school.<\/p>\n
But the high career prospects also come with a hefty price tag: Tuition at top MBA programs has climbed to over $300,000 in some cases, raising the stakes for students weighing whether the degree is worth the investment.<\/p>\n
Like Gen Z, Fortune 500 CEOs have begun questioning the value of degrees<\/p>\n
Even as young people increasingly question the value of degrees, some top business leaders have similarly voiced that credentials may not be worth the same as they did previously.<\/p>\n
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who graduated from Harvard Business School in 1982, has pushed back on the idea that an elite education automatically makes someone a better employee.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think necessarily because you go to an Ivy League school or have great grades it means you\u2019re going to be a great worker or great person,\u201d Dimon told LinkedIn in 2024.<\/p>\n
Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters, an alum of the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s Wharton School, has been more blunt.<\/p>\n
\u201cI studied international relations and history. I got an MBA later, but that was a waste of time,\u201d Winters said last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned how to think at university, and for the 40 years since I left university, those skills have been degraded, degraded, degraded.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Joy Jones, GMAC\u2019s CEO and a Stanford MBA alum, business schools need to be more upfront about the return on investment they can offer\u2014or where they fall short.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Gen Z] want a return on their investment that goes beyond salary: careers that feel stable and fulfilling, the flexibility to keep their options open, and work that makes a positive impact,\u201d she told Fortune.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, she remains bullish on business education: \u201cI believe the question isn\u2019t whether business school rebounds, but which programs earn the trust of a generation that wants proof of value up front.\u201d<\/p>\n
#MBA #save #Gen #itU.S #business #school #applications #plunged<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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