Overall satisfaction

Generally, graduating students are very positive about their school experience. Seventy percent of full-time MBA program graduates considered their degree “outstanding” or “excellent.” An additional 23 percent rated their school as “good.” We found that graduates of part-time MBA programs were significantly more likely than previous graduating classes to rate the overall value of their degree as outstanding or excellent―61 percent of 2008 graduates did so. Among graduates of EMBA programs, 68 percent rated their degree an outstanding or excellent value.

An impressive 91 percent of full-time program graduates would definitely recommend their school to others. Sixty-two percent of part-time program graduates and 69 percent of EMBA graduates would definitely recommend their school.

Quality of program components

Asked to rate components of their programs, graduates of full-time MBA programs rated the quality of their faculty and fellow students the highest, followed by curriculum, program management, admissions, and student services. The component rated lowest by alumni of full-time programs was career services, although 38 percent of respondents overall rated the quality of career services as outstanding or excellent. The past three classes of graduates of full-time programs (2006–2008) were more likely than previous classes to rate the quality of career services as outstanding or excellent.

Among graduates of both part-time and EMBA programs, faculty and fellow students were the two highest-rated components, and career services rated lowest. Among respondents from part-time and EMBA programs, however, 20 percent and 17 percent, respectively, did not report a quality rating for the career services office. That perhaps suggests that there may be room to improve outreach, promotion, and use of career services.

Student satisfaction with core curriculum

Respondents from full-time programs report they were most satisfied with the skills and abilities they learned in courses on finance, business policy/strategy, accounting, management/organizational behavior, and economics. Graduates of part-time MBA programs were most satisfied with their courses in management and organizational behavior, and business policy and strategy.

Graduates of executive MBA programs were most satisfied with their courses in management and organizational behavior, finance, and business policy/strategy, and least satisfied with courses in information systems and operations.

Graduates of part-time MBA programs in 2008 were significantly more likely than those of previous graduating classes to rate the overall value of their degree as outstanding or excellent; they were also more likely to give high ratings to admissions, career services, and student services. Among EMBA students, however, the classes of 2007 and 2008 were less likely than previous classes to rate the curriculum outstanding or excellent.

The survey may point to areas where the curriculum lags behind business trends. For example, nearly one in five full-time graduates (24 percent), reported that information systems were not a part of their core curriculum. Additionally, 22 percent reported that international business and 19 percent reported that ethics/business law were not a part of their core curriculum.

Similarly, one in five part-time graduates (20 percent) did not have a core course in ethics or business law, and 28 percent did not have a core course in international business.

Student participation in extracurricular activities

More than half of the full-time MBA graduates had participated in student career or professional clubs (69 percent) and internships (65 percent). Additionally, 49 percent participated in work projects, 46 percent in volunteer activities, and 45 percent in academic/case competitions. Notably, 43 percent of full-time graduates said they had worked part-time during their program, and one-eighth (12 percent) worked full-time.

Among alumni of part-time programs, 90 percent worked full-time and 5 percent worked part-time. Still, nearly one in five (19 percent) found time to participate in student career or professional clubs, 17 percent had work projects, 16 percent participated in study-abroad programs, and 11 percent took part in academic or case competitions. Of EMBA alums, 83 percent worked full-time during their program; 5 percent worked part-time. Nearly a third (30 percent) participated in a study-abroad program, and 26 percent in work projects. Additionally, 14 percent participated in a leadership program and 12 percent in volunteer activities.

Other findings of interest

Among graduates of full-time programs:

• Men were significantly more likely than women to consider the value of their degree as outstanding, and men rated the value of each component of the graduate business program significantly higher than the women did.
• Overall, 2003 and 2005 graduates of full-time programs rated the overall value of the degree significantly higher than all other full-time MBA graduating classes.
• Respondents age 28 to 34 were slightly more likely than other respondents to consider the degree an outstanding value. Respondents age 35 and older were more likely than other respondents to consider the degree an excellent value, whereas respondents age 27 and younger were more likely than other respondents to consider the value good.

Among graduates of part-time programs:

• Men were nearly twice as likely as women to report that the degree was an outstanding value.
• Respondents age 35 and older were more likely than younger respondents to consider their degree an outstanding value and to definitely recommend their school. On the other hand, respondents 27 and younger were more likely than older respondents to “probably” recommend their school.

The 2008 Global MBA® Graduate Survey reflects responses from 2,858 full-time MBA students at 142 participating schools, 1,701 students from part-time programs, and 238 EMBA students.