With MBA programs at schools like Harvard Business School (HBS) adopting deferred admissions programs designed to attract prospective college applicants, rumors have been circulating for the past several years that business schools are seeking to enroll younger classes. In fact, according to a recent article in the Financial Times, these rumors have proven misplaced and the average age of incoming students has hovered around 27 for most U.S. two-year programs.
The concern that business schools planned to enroll younger classes was sparked in great part by HBS’s launch of its 2+2 program, which targets promising college students, who if accepted are guaranteed a spot in the HBS class after completing two years of approved work experience. This represents a shift from the average five years of experience that most top-tier schools have usually wanted to see from applicants.
With its 2+2 program, HBS has hoped to attract bright young students earlier, before they venture down another career path or followed an alternate graduate school direction. Schools have also argued that targeting younger students could help increase female enrollment, making the timeframe for attendance more analogous to law or medical school and less in conflict with the years when many women choose to start a family.
But despite concerns that 2+2 would result in a younger, less experienced class, a third of the first entries from the program, who will join HBS later this year, have decided to further defer business school. That leaves 65 participants from the program entering this year out of a class of 918 students. HBS Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Dee Leopold told the FT that there were no strict rules about students joining in a given year and participants are welcome to work for additional years if they choose.
At the Simon School at the University of Rochester, which also launched an “early leaders” initiative a few years ago, the average age has risen back to 27 after dipping to 26. At Simon, the young leaders program is credited with increasing the number of female applicants, according to the FT report. About 50 per cent of those designated as young leaders are women.
The increase in women entering top-tier MBA programs has been particularly significant this year at a range of schools. At HBS, the female students increased from 36 to 39 percent, and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania tops the chart, with a 45 percent female intake this year, up from 40 percent last year.
But at Wharton, admissions officials maintain that significant work experience – including in managerial roles – is key to recruiters. “All the feedback from employers is that they want work experience,” J.J. Cutler, Wharton director of MBA admissions and financial aid, told the FT. “We want a mature, diverse class.” According to Cutler, 78 per cent of the class of 845 at Wharton have four or more years of work experience.
Despite its commitment to significant work experience, Wharton has begun to talk to young women in high schools as well as colleges to persuade them of the value of a business education. Dean Tom Robertson believes that having more women in the class this year will draw more women in subsequent years. “There is a critical mass issue,” he told the FT. “Women feel there is a critical mass of women [at Wharton].”
For the complete Financial Times story, click here.
Read the full article: Concerns About Increasingly Younger MBA Classes Prove Unfounded, Financial Times Reports