NEWSLINE - Summer 1999

Presence of Foreign Students Rising in U.S. Management Education Programs

Although the total number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in management has dropped in recent years, and the growth rate in master’s programs has slowed, the demand for both undergraduate and graduate management education from foreign students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities continues to increase. Indeed, foreign students, always an important clientele for many institutions, represent an increasingly critical market for U.S. business schools, given the enrollment shifts and declines that have affected management programs during the 1990s.

Special analysis of data from the new AACSB "Earned Degrees in Management Education, 1992-97" CD-ROM reveal that although the total number of undergraduate degrees in management dropped by 11 percent between A/Y 1992 and 1997, the number of foreign students receiving bachelor’s degrees in business and management increased by almost one-half, up 48 percent. Foreign students now represent roughly 5 percent of the undergraduates who earn management degrees, up from 3 percent in A/Y 1992; however, the actual number of foreign students who earn bachelor’s degrees in management (about 12,000 in A/Y 1997) remains small compared to the total number of degrees awarded (more than 223,000).

At the master’s level, the role of foreign students in graduate management education is much more significant. The growth in the number of foreign students receiving master’s degrees in management (up 61 percent during this period) was almost four times the overall growth for master’s degrees (up 17 percent). Indeed, in A/Y 1997, foreign students accounted for one-seventh (14 percent) of the students earning master’s degrees in management from U.S. colleges and universities, up from one-tenth in A/Y 1992.

However, while the total number of doctorates in business increased seven percent between 1992 and 1997, the number of foreign students who earned a doctorate degree in management fell by19 percent. By 1997, foreign students accounted for just 28 percent of the doctoral degrees in management, down from 36 percent in A/Y 1992.

Why the striking disparity between the increase in foreign students getting bachelor's and master's business degrees as compared to business doctorates? "I suspect the key issues are what kinds of jobs the foreign students have prior to and after completing these degrees," said Kenneth C. Green, visiting scholar at Claremont Graduate University who prepared the data. "At the MBA level, some overseas firms pay for all the costs of the degree, including renting homes for students. In contrast, those receiving doctorates may be pursuing academic employment — and perhaps the demand for management professors overseas is leveling off," he said. "There also are pipeline factors involved, as it is possible to produce MBAs quickly (two years) while Ph.D.s take a bit longer (three to four years, depending)."

Equally interesting is the demography of the institutions that award large numbers of management degrees to foreign students. At the undergraduate level, the top 10 institutions in 1997 were a mix of both "national" (e.g., Boston University, University of Oregon) and regional institutions (e.g., Western Michigan, Florida International, Johnson & Wales), led by Hawaii Pacific University. And while Harvard, MIT and Columbia are on the top 10 list for of institutions that awarded the most master’s degrees in business to foreign students in 1997, the group also includes Golden Gate University in San Francisco (ranked second), Nova Southeastern University and National University, all institutions that serve an admittedly different clientele. Finally, the declining numbers of doctorate degrees awarded to foreign doctoral students by some of the most prestigious and best-known American universities such as MIT, Penn/Wharton and NYU provided an opening for the University of Mississippi, Temple University, the University of Alabama and the University of Nebraska to join the top 10 list in 1997. Although the numbers of doctorate degrees in management awarded by all these universities are small, the change among institutions on the top 10 list is striking.

What do these numbers mean? First, the data document the growing presence of foreign students in U.S. management programs. Second, although these numbers are a lagging (not leading) indicator, they reveal that foreign students, as a group, attend institutions that do — and do not — have national (and international) reputations. Third, the growing enrollments of foreign students receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees from public institutions could be a catalyst for state policy discussions increasing tuition charges for both out-of-state and out-of-country residents.

Finally, because the degree data do not extend beyond A/Y 1997, it is not yet possible to measure the impact of the recent economic problems in some Asian nations on the foreign student enrollments in U.S. management programs. Anecdotal evidence suggests some decline; as always, hard data takes longer to develop.

This article, prepared by Kenneth C. Green (cgreen@campuscomputing.net), visiting scholar at Claremont Graduate University, draws on data from AACSB's new "Earned Degrees in Management Education, 1992-1997" CD-ROM produced by Green and JBL Associates for AACSB.  The CD can be ordered via the AACSB Web site.