The MBA has retained its high value, according to graduating students. In Global MBA® Graduate Survey 2004, we asked the class of 2004 to rate the overall value of their MBA education by comparing the total monetary cost of the degree with the quality of the education they received. Fifty-eight percent feel the value of their MBA is outstanding or excellent, and 30% consider it to be good.

What Drives Value

The good news continues. Students assess the value of their degree largely on the basis of the characteristics of their particular program. The higher the students rate the quality of their school’s faculty, curriculum, program management, career services, and admissions, the higher the likelihood that they will give the overall value of their MBA a high rating.

Surprise: The Role of Rankings

Although 65% of graduating MBAs say that media rankings were extremely or very important factors in their decision about where to go for an MBA, the survey found a negative correlation between the use of rankings in school selection and a high MBA value rating. That is, theoretically, the more important published rankings are in someone's choice of a school, the less likely the person is to give the value of the MBA a high rating.

Although the reasons behind this finding are not definitive, one possible explanation is that students who rely too heavily on rankings in their choice of a school may neglect other school characteristics that end up being important to them later on—anything from specific course offerings to school culture. We will continue to explore this issue in future Global MBA® Graduate Surveys.

What Drives Student Recommendations

Overall, 62% of the students surveyed would definitely recommend their school to someone who is considering pursuing an MBA, and 32% would probably recommend their school. The better students rate faculty, student services, and career services, the more likely they are to recommend their schools to others.

"Hot" Jobs

For the past four years, the Global MBA® Graduate Survey has tracked the types of jobs new MBA graduates target. The top job function is still finance, but the share of graduates pursuing finance has dropped slightly since 2003, from 33% to 31%. And this is still a decrease from the 2002 spike of 37%. The second most popular job function for new grads is marketing/sales (24%), which has increased in popularity since 2001 and stabilized at 2003 levels.

Want to Know More?

To learn more about how students of the class of 2004 selected their MBA program, how they rate their satisfaction with their MBA experience, and how they choose post-MBA employment, read the executive summary of the survey. Other results of the survey will be posted at www.gmac.com/surveys.

Schools that participate in the Global MBA® Graduate Survey by providing student contact information receive detailed reports of their own students’ responses. In the past, administrators have used this information for such purposes as training staff members, setting the expectations of new students, and prioritizing initiatives in marketing and admissions.

For more information about the Global MBA® Graduate Survey and how to participate, contact Rachel Edgington, associate director of research, at edgington@gmac.com.

Global MBA® and GMAC® are registered trademarks of the Graduate Management Admission Council®. All rights reserved.