Given the turmoil on Wall Street and the overall soft job market in the U.S., it's not surprising that many international applicants have decided not to come to the U.S. to pursue an MBA this year. Even more interesting, however, is that apparently many Americans also also now considering earning their MBAs abroad.
An article in last week's Wall Street Journal describes the trend of more and more Americans deciding to go abroad for their MBA programs. Not only do schools such as INSEAD and IMD provide Americans with an opportunity to broaden their international exposure, but they also offer a nice sort of career diversification in that they tend to attract a more diverse array of corporate recruiters than do most American programs.
According to the WSJ article, at some top European schools, only about 20% of the graduating class lands in finance, compared with up to 60% at some U.S. schools. While this has traditionally been a weakness for European schools in attracting top talent that wants to pursue high-paying jobs, in today's climate it's one reason why more American than ever have sought out these programs.
Another advantage that many European schools offer is that their programs are shorter than most American schools' programs, which, among other things, means that they can be significantly less expensive. While we tend to discourage applicants from choosing based on costs alone, this often significant difference can be hard for someone to ignore when they're still paying off old student loans and are about to leave their job to take on even more debt.
The European business schools aren't content to just let Americans beat a path to their doors -- they've made a point of aggressively reaching out to U.S. students in order to capitalize on this trend. As a result of the macro trend and these recruiting efforts, schools such as Oxford's Saïd Business School have interviewed 60% more American applicants this year than in 2007-2008.
The MBA pendulum has swung towards the rest of the world... Will it one day swing back towards American MBA programs? Tell us what you think!
