Happy days may be here again for new business school graduates and that’s exciting news to share with your students who are considering going for an MBA. According to the Graduate Management Admission Council, the makers of the GMAT, a recent survey they conducted of thousands of MBAs worldwide from the Class of 2012 found that over 90% were employed within three months of graduation. This impressive statistics is actually 6% higher than it was in GMAC’s 2011 survey and the highest its been since its 2003 alumni survey. Things are definitely on the upswing.
According to Poets & Quants, a news site that explores business schools and MBA career issues in depth, “placement rates were even higher at some of the more prominent business schools last year. Emory’s Goizueta School posted the highest job offer rate this year, with 98% of the Class of 2012 with offers of employment within three months, up three percentage points from 95% in 2011. Four other well-known schools followed Emory, each with 96% of their graduates getting job offers within three months: UC-Berkeley Haas, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, MIT Sloan, and Columbia Business School.” Translation: not all MBA degrees are created equal. The better the school (usually), the better the job prospects.
The good news goes beyond the fact that new business school grads are employed. The survey also found that 77% of those who responded said their starting salary met or exceeded what they expected. And 76% said they could not have secured their current job without their MBA or graduate management education degree.
As Dave Wilson, the president of CEO and GMAC explains it: “As the economy improves in many parts of the world, employers who are hiring look for skilled managers to lead the way. MBAs and other graduate degrees provide the skills people need to manage tough problems in today’s complex marketplace.”
And lest students think that these positive findings are a flash in the pan, they are not, according to the GMAC survey. As part of a larger pool of MBAs grads from the Classes of 2000 through 2012, success and stability are the buzzwords. GMAC’s survey also found:
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96% percent were employed, up two percentage points from last year. Some 89% were working for an employer and 7% were self-employed.
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Self-employment rates varied greatly depending on where alumni operated their business, ranging from 5% of those with businesses in the US to 20% of those working in the Middle East and Africa. Self-employment rates were 6% in Asia/Pacific Islands, 11% in Europe, and 13% in Latin America.
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Overall, 60% of alumni took out loans to pay for their education, but the proportions varied by program type, with 67% of full-time MBA alumni, 50% of executive MBA alumni, 48% of non-MBA specialized master’s alumni, and 47% of part-time MBA alumni taking out loans. Although more full-time MBA alumni have taken out loans compared with all other business school alumni, they also report the highest percentage of loan repayment and were least likely to express concern about their ability to repay their loans based on their current financial situation.
The full GMAC survey can be found here: gmac.com/alumniperspectives. In general GMAC’s page is full of fantastic data about business school admissions trends and post-business school life. We encourage both you and your students to dig through it. And for aspiring MBA students who are going to have to analyze and sort through lots of data, it’s excellent practice.
