American business schools urge foreign students to return for programmes

*For the last four years, there was ‘a perception that applying to business schools in the United States was a riskier proposition’ during the Donald Trump Administration, says Brigitte Madrian, Dean of Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

In barely two months into the Joe Biden administration, United States (US) schools are cautiously optimistic that the tide will turn in their favour as regards considerable international students’ enrolment for Master in Business Administration (MBA) programmes and related courses of study.

Hitherto, in 2016 half of American MBA programmes reported an increase in enrolment by international students, agency report said.

However, in the following year, less than a third saw international applications climb as many foreign students, were reportedly put off by the “America First” rhetoric of the former President Donald Trump administration, and looked elsewhere to study for their programmes.

For the last four years, there was “a perception that applying to business schools in the US was a riskier proposition,” says Brigitte Madrian, dean of the Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University, which saw a 60% increase in international students from 2011 to 2016 but ended the decade with fewer than it had in 2010.

It was gathered that the beneficiaries of this trend, of course, were non-US programmes. At Rotman School of Management in Toronto, for instance, the number of international students jumped 45 percent from 2015 to 2020.

Essec, a B-school near Paris, in France, where 94 percent of MBA candidates are non-French, saw applications increase by half last year.

International interest in European programmes has been on the rise since 2017, and last year 74 percent of schools there reported global applications either climbed or stayed stable, report stated.

Virginie Fougea, Director of Admissions at Insead, which has campuses in France and Singapore, said: “European and Canadian schools have benefited from people who otherwise would have gone to the US.”

Nonetheless, two months into the Biden administration, US schools are cautiously optimistic that the tide will turn in their favour this time around.

Marriott saw a 117 percent increase in international applicants for the class of 2022. And NYU Stern says global interest was strong last year, with a third of that class holding non-US passports.

But, Miami Herbert Business School says applications from China—a key component of the international student body for most programmes—are about the same as last year. Chinese students “who would prefer to come to the US are hedging their bets by also applying to Canadian and UK schools,” says John Quelch, Herbert’s Dean.

ConsumerConnect reports that non-US programmes now are trying to maintain the advantages they gained during the last Trump administration.

One big selling point is price: European schools cost $40,000 to $100,000 for the one-year programmes typical there, vs. roughly $150,000 for a two-year degree at a top US school.

Antonella Moretto, Associate Dean of MIP Politecnico di Milano, which charges about $44,000 for a degree, stated: “Although immigration and visa policies may have influenced candidates’ choice, we also noticed that cost had a great impact on the decision.”

Biden is clearly less antagonistic than Trump, but many foreigners have lingering concerns about how welcoming Americans really are, according to report.

That doubt has spurred non-US schools to further stress their open atmosphere and the multicultural makeup of the student body.

At Oxford Saïd in England, for instance, less than 10 percent of students are from the UK.

That means that once on campus, “most people are in a minority, and that’s why they choose to come,” says Matthew Conisbee, the school’s MBA programme director.

Many foreigners had long seen an MBA from an American school as a first step toward employment in the US.

However, but Trump barred new H1-B visas, which allow skilled immigrants to work in the country during his administration.

Biden has lifted some Trump-era immigration restrictions, but he hasn’t reversed the H-1B ban, which is set to expire March 31, 2021.

Meanwhile, Rotman has been highlighting Canada’s relatively lax visa policies, including the ease of getting a three-year postgraduate work permit.

It should be noted that B-schools rise and fall on the perceived value of a degree, the connections one makes while studying, and especially the employment prospects of graduates.

Four classes of MBA students have now had ample incentive to explore Europe, Asia, and beyond, and many have found highly paid jobs outside the US —proving that an American MBA is not required for success, report noted.

The fact of the development remains that with American immigration policies easing again, B-schools elsewhere around the world are seeking to maintain the recruiting advantages they enjoyed under the former US administration.

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