The Wharton School may be rated among the top business schools in the country, but applications to its graduate program are declining.
The school's master of business administration program has seen progressively fewer applications in the last few years, a trend mirrored in business programs across the nation. Many issues factor into the decline, including a tougher job market and lower international birthrates.
The Wharton MBA program was ranked No. 3 nationally according to the most recent U.S. News and World Report rankings, but still finds itself increasing its outreach initiatives in order to attract new applicants.
Director of MBA Admissions Rosemaria Martinelli reported that applications were down 21 percent from last year, a number she describes as "a bit troubling."
"The bubble burst," she said, referring to an economic downturn in the late '90s that forced potential MBA applicants to reconsider their options.
When the job market worsened, workers were more inclined to stay at full-time jobs and not as willing to pay such large tuition costs for a higher degree.
Wharton has not been affected as much as some less prestigious programs, Martinelli noted, but most of the top-tier programs still experienced a drop in admissions.
The Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley -- ranked No. 8 this year by U.S. News for its graduate business programs -- received 23 percent fewer applications overall this fall, according to Peter Johnson, director of international admissions for the full-time Haas MBA program.
"I do find any sudden large shifts to be of concern," he said, adding that "last year was the first downward trend in a number of years."
Johnson attributed the trend of decreased admissions to "the general state of the economy."
"The recovery has been a little slower than a lot of people had anticipated," he said.
A 2004 survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council found that 78 percent of traditional two-year MBA programs showed a decline in applications in the 2002-03 application cycle -- the second year of declining applications.
International applications are especially low, Martinelli observed, adding that she expects this particular trend to continue for quite a while.
International students now "have to look at the cost-benefit [analysis] of an MBA" in the United States, Martinelli said, as the number of business programs abroad increases.
Despite the relatively low numbers of traditional, full-time MBA applicants, fewer programs are seeing a decline in applicants to their part-time and executive programs.
Only 48 percent of MBA programs nationally reported a decrease in part-time applications, according to the GMAC survey. At Wharton, such applications even increased.
"I think that's pretty telling," Martinelli said of students' growing need for more flexible program options.
In order to combat the applications decline, Wharton has expanded its outreach to 74 cities and 47 countries this year, according to Martinelli.
"You have to work much harder. We're running very hard," she said.
The top-ranked business school is focusing on nurturing relationships with recent alumni and providing information to potential applicants earlier in their careers.
The caliber of applications to Wharton MBA has remained high even as the quantity has decreased, Martinelli said.
According to Johnson, Haas is also privileged to evaluate a strong pool of applicants.
"Like Wharton, we had the luxury of having many more applications than there were places," Johnson said.
