The survey — of nearly 12,000 registrants to GMAC’s mba.com website and conducted throughout 2014 — provides both schools and students with valuable insight into the business school decision-making process for MBA and specialized business master’s degree candidates (such as a Master in Management, Accounting or Finance). The survey uncovers that students from various parts of the world display distinct differences in ascribing what factors matter most to them and the order of importance in which they consider those factors when making decisions about b-school.
When students listed their top five consideration criteria for actually selecting a program and a study destination, rankings didn’t rank. The study destination distinction is important as more than half of prospective students (52 percent) seek to study outside their country of citizenship, up from 40 percent in 2010 (and noticeable among Asia-Pacific and Middle Eastern citizens). The top 10 preferred study destinations worldwide are the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada, France, India, Hong Kong, Germany, Singapore, Netherlands, and Australia.
The survey does show that published rankings have influence in candidates’ school consideration but places rankings overall as the third most consulted information resource for prospective students, finishing behind school websites and friends and family.
In addition to these findings, the 2015 report also explores regional and generational differences regarding prospective students’ career goals, program preferences, decision-making time lines, top study destinations, as well as, education financing choices, motivations, online/offline course delivery, the role of social media and preferences about b-school culture. With analysis of survey responses available for world regions and more than 30 specific countries, this is the largest data resource of its kind available to the graduate management education community.
Download the report here.