Are Foreign Students Avoiding U.S. MBA Programs?

Are Foreign Students Avoiding U.S. MBA Programs?

[VIDEO] The Graduate Management Admission Council’s Student Mobility Research Is Focus of International Television News Segment

China Global Television Network (CGTN) interviewed GMAC CEO Sangeet Chowfla at The Council’s headquarters in Reston, Va., for a television segment about issues the graduate management education community is facing with regard to the political climate in the United States. The segment aired in markets throughout the world in June 2017.


“We are in constant contact with admissions professionals in business schools,” said Chowfla. “It’s fair to say there is concern amongst the admission and administrative community in business schools in the U.S. And, I would say that actually goes beyond business schools to the higher education system overall.”

Non-U.S. citizens in May reported they are 44 percent less likely to seek a graduate business degree at a U.S. college or university, up from 35 percent after the U.S. presidential election, according to GMAC research. About halfway through the current admissions cycle, nearly 2 in 3 U.S. full-time two-year MBA programs (64 percent) have received fewer applications from international candidates than at the same point last year.

 “Many of these students come to the U.S. and bring new and innovative ideas,” explained Chowfla. “And a lot of the innovative drive from our economy come from students who first landed on U.S shores through the higher education route.”

GMAC continues to track international applications to U.S. business schools, and The Council will publish its annual Application Trends Survey in September 2017.