美國商學院兩年全日制MBA項目需求下降

Applications for full-time two-year MBA courses fell in most US business schools last year, according to the latest figures from the Graduate Management Admission Council, the owner and administrator of the GMAT admission exam.

管理專業研究生入學考試委員會（Graduate Management Admission Council，簡稱GMAC）的最新數據顯示，去年大多數美國商學院兩年全日制MBA項目的申請人數下降。GMAC是管理專業研究生入學考試(GMAT)的所有者和管理者。

The global trend for the flagship qualification of the business education sector also remained downbeat, according to GMAC’s research.

GMAC的研究顯示，作爲商科教育領域的旗艦學位，兩年全日制MBA項目在全球的趨勢也依然不容樂觀。

In the US, 53 per cent of schools running full-time two-year MBA courses reported a decline in application numbers in 2016, while 40 per cent reported growth.

在美國，開設兩年全日制MBA項目的商學院當中，有53%報告2016年申請人數下降，同時有40%報告申請人數增長。

The drop suggests a shift in attitudes to business education due to increased job insecurity and the opportunity to study overseas or online, with prospective students opting for courses that take less time to complete and the highest-ranked schools seeing an increase in applications.

申請人數下降表明，由於就業不安全感上升以及赴海外或在線學習機會增加，人們對商科教育的態度發生了變化，一些原本可能攻讀兩年全日制MBA項目的學生選擇了學制更短的項目，頂級商學院的申請人數增加。

Meanwhile, the percentage of business schools worldwide reporting growth in applications declined for a third straight year, from 61 per cent in 2014 to 57 per cent in 2015 to 43 per cent this year.

與此同時，全球範圍內報告申請人數增加的商學院比例連續第三年下降，2014年是61%，2015年降至57%，今年則進一步下降至43%。

Smaller courses tended to be worst hit while those with larger student intakes experienced growth.

學生較少的項目往往是受衝擊最嚴重的，而那些學生較多的項目的申請人數則出現了增長。

Matt Symonds, a co-director of Fortuna Admissions, a business school admissions consultancy, described a “flight to quality”, with the US market fragmenting between a top tier of schools and the also-rans.

商學院入學諮詢機構Fortuna Admissions的聯席主管馬特•西蒙茲(Matt Symonds)描述了“對質量的追求”——美國市場上頂尖商學院和不入流學校日益分化。

“There is a greater focus on the opportunity cost, and two years of full-time study needed for the typical US MBA does seem prohibitive to many,” he explained.

他解釋稱：“人們更加關注機會成本，美國典型MBA所需的兩年全日制學習似乎的確讓許多人望而卻步。”

GMAC said Europe constituted a bright spot in its 2016 findings, with 65 per cent of European graduate business programmes reporting an increase in applications, compared with 46 per cent in the US and 41 per cent in East and Southeast Asia.

GMAC表示，歐洲是其2016年報告中的一個亮點，65%的歐洲碩士商科項目報告了申請人數增長，與之形成反差的是，美國的這個比例是46%，東亞和東南亞的這個比例是41%。

Applications for one-year MBA courses increased in 57 per cent of the schools that offer them worldwide, according to the GMAC figures, up from 51 per cent in 2015.

GMAC的數據顯示，在全球範圍內提供一年制MBA項目的商學院當中，有57%報告申請人數增長，而2015年的這一比例是51%。

IESE Business School in Barcelona is one of several highly ranked European business schools to increase its MBA course size in the wake of increased admission numbers, growing its student intake this year by 22 per cent.

在入學人數上升之後，歐洲數家高排名商學院擴大了其MBA項目規模，巴塞羅那的IESE商學院(IESE Business School)就是其中之一，今年該學院的入學人數增長了22%。

“We are seeing higher quality students that are better prepared,” said Iziar de Ros, IESE’s admissions director, noting that the average score on the GMAT exam applicants must take rose from 680 last year to 690 in 2016.

IESE的招生主管伊齊亞•德羅斯(Iziar de Ros)表示：“我們看到學生質量更高了，他們的準備也更爲充分。”他指出，在2016年，GMAT考試平均分從去年的680升至690分，GMAT考試是所有申請人必須參加的。

For the second consecutive year, a majority of online MBA courses reported growing application volumes.

絕大多數在線MBA項目連續第二年報告申請人數上升。

However part-time MBA courses continue to struggle to raise demand, according to the GMAC figures, with just 43 per cent of these programmes reporting a rise in applications compared with half reporting a decline in volumes.

然而，GMAC數據顯示，在職MBA項目依然難以提升需求，只有43%的項目報告申請人數增長，有50%的項目報告申請人數下降。

Sangeet Chowfla, GMAC’s president and chief executive, said: “Business degrees continue to be one of the most sought after educational credentials.”

GMAC總裁兼首席執行官桑吉特•喬弗拉(Sangeet Chowfla)表示：“商科學位仍然是最受追捧的文憑之一。”

But he added that the increasing number of tailored business qualifications, such as the master in data analytics degree, meant that there was a more “mixed picture” in terms of demand for specific business schools.

但他補充稱，個性化商科學位（比如數據分析碩士學位）數量增加意味着，具體商學院的需求“情況更爲複雜”。