AACSB Examines Graduate Enrollment by Discipline at Member Schools

At the graduate level, general business has continued to be the most popular degree program as reported by AACSB International member schools. However, the popularity of general business programs (such as MBAs) is declining as schools continue to reorient their offerings in order to provide the most relevant educations to students. Popularity is also declining in computer information systems and management information systems programs. As far as for more specific degree programs, enrollments in fields such as marketing, economics, and human resource management have remained steady throughout the last three years.

The most interesting increases in the last three years have been within the categories of management and other. For instance, management program enrollment has increased from 12.7% in 2006–07 to 20.1% in 2008–09. The category that includes other programs is defined as any program that is not included in the standard 28 disciplines within the annual AACSB Business School Questionnaire (BSQ). The growth in this area aligns with the anecdotal reports AACSB has recently received regarding the changing needs of students and an increasing request for more specialized programs.

Figure 1. Masters and Doctoral Enrollment at AACSB Member Schools
(based on data from AACSB International member schools that provided data at the program/field/discipline level)

While not conclusive, these trends are definitely food for thought and AACSB will continue to track program enrollments to further examine how discipline-based enrollments may change over time.

Data Note: As part of the annual AACSB Business School Questionnaire (BSQ), AACSB collects data on student enrollments. At the most detailed level, AACSB collects information by both degree title and field/discipline which provides the opportunity to monitor trends in various disciplines over time.