GMAC® recently released results of two surveys, the Global MBA® Graduate Survey, and the Application Trends Survey.

Useful individually, when viewed together, the surveys can give schools a greater understanding of the graduate management education market and their position in it. This year, the surveys shed some light on what, for many business school professionals, has been a puzzling, and even frustrating, year.

Application Trends Survey: Different Program Types, Different Experiences

Of all the program types we surveyed in the Application Trends Survey, executive programs have fared best this year. Their reliance on a largely local and regional applicant base, and their ties to corporations that act as feeders for the programs (and sponsors of students), have brought them steady increases in application volume nearly every year since 2001. This year, more than half of all executive programs reported increases in application volume. One group of applicants executive programs did not see more of, however, was women. Female business school students tend to go to business school at a younger age than their male counterparts, which makes executive MBA programs less practical options for them.

Part-time programs reported only moderate changes in application volume compared with last year but received more applications this year from women and U.S. underrepresented minorities. These two groups carry more pre–business school educational debt than prospective students in general and are attracted to the price point and flexible scheduling part-time programs offer.

Despite the perks of going to school part-time, though, results of the Global MBA® Graduate Survey tell us that the satisfaction levels of part-time students and their ratings of the overall value of the MBA degree still lag those of full-time students. Knowing that the value ratings are based largely on students’ assessment of the quality of their program, it would seem that students feel they are making some trade-offs in quality when they choose less costly alternatives to full-time programs. A challenge for schools is to address the satisfaction gap and foster a more positive experience for all students.