Year-End Wrap-Up Highlights Positive Trends for B-School Grads in 2011

Key survey and poll results from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) during 2011 provided a positive outlook

RESTON, VA--(Marketwire - Dec 21, 2011) - Key survey and poll results from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) during 2011 provided a positive outlook for MBA graduates in 2011 and projected hiring for 2012. The year's noteworthy findings include:

  • 54 percent of all graduate business students seeking employment in 2011 had at least one job offer pre-graduation, up from 32 percent in 2010, according to the GMAC Global Management Education Graduate Survey.
     
  • Class of 2011 grads who did an internship are 26 percent more likely to have a job offer pre-graduation than classmates without an internship, according to the GMAC Global Management Education Graduate Survey.
     
  • 67 percent of full-time MBA programs reported a decline in application volume in 2011 compared with 2010; 54 percent of part-time programs reported that application volume was the same or more than last year; and 58 percent of executive MBA programs said application volume was the same or more than last year, according to the GMAC Application Trends Survey.
     
  • 83 percent of Master of Finance programs reported that applications were up, and 69 percent of Master in Management and 51 percent of Master of Accounting programs reported an increase in applications, according to the GMAC Application Trends Survey.
     
  • Admissions offices at business schools reported that the quality of applicants for 2011-2012 incoming classes and their academic credentials are equal or better for 89 percent of full-time MBA programs compared with last year, according to the GMAC Application Trends Survey.
     
  • Nearly four times as many companies are planning to increase the number of MBAs they hire in 2012 (22 percent) compared with the six percent of companies that actually hired more MBAs than planned in 2011, according to the GMAC Year-End Employer Poll.

Download GMAC survey reports at gmac.com/research.

About GMAC

The Graduate Management Admission Council (www.gmac.com) is a nonprofit education organization of leading graduate business schools worldwide dedicated to creating access to and disseminating information about graduate management education. GMAC is based in Reston, Virginia, and has regional offices in London (U.K.), New Delhi (India) and Hong Kong. The GMAT® exam was created in 1954 and is used by more than 5,300 graduate management programs at approximately 2,000 business schools around the world to assess applicants. The GMAT -- the only standardized test designed expressly for graduate business and management programs worldwide -- is continuously available at more than 550 test centers in over 111 countries. More information about the GMAT exam is available at www.mba.com.