What happened to MBA demand
US MBA demand hit reverse this cycle. GMAC reports a 27% year over year fall in full-time MBA applications, with the pullback showing up across every MBA format in the US and across other graduate business programs too, even online.
The pain was sharper for international candidates. Across the spectrum of US graduate business programs, international interest declined 38%, and domestic applicants decreased by 6%. GMAC said it could not break out this year's domestic and international changes specifically for US MBA programs because those figures were not readily available.
Outside the US, the slump was gentler, with European programs down 2%. More selective schools globally tended to see smaller shortfalls.
How individual schools and classes shifted
Among the few selective US programs that typically publish raw application totals, two had reported by this fall, and both showed similar declines: down 21% at UCLA Anderson and 22% at Georgetown McDonough. Duke University's Fuqua School of Business cited a comparable overall drop, according to the school.
At Anderson, Associate Dean Gary Fraser said international applications fell about 30% and domestic applicants were down around 10%. The broader pullback has been widely linked to wariness abroad, attributed largely to restrictive visa policies during the Trump administration. Fraser also noted a shift among Gen Z, who he said are less certain they will "do as well as their parents" and doubt the economy will necessarily improve by the time they graduate. Some international applicants also ran into visa hurdles.
Class sizes and selectivity signals
By Oct. 26, class profiles were out from 12 of the 35 highest-ranked US schools in Businessweek, and several of those indicated smaller incoming cohorts. MIT Sloan was the exception, keeping its class size unchanged. Indiana University's Kelley School of Business shrank its entering class by nearly half, from 106 to 57.
Georgetown's class size fell roughly in line with its application drop. Anderson aimed for about 300 students again but missed, as better funded rivals won over some admits with larger scholarships. "We had a lot more people who put down deposits and chose not to come to Anderson because they got a better deal somewhere else," Fraser said.
Smart investors adapt when signals shift and new tools become available. We're hosting our first ever investor livestream on 11/17 to show you how to use ChatGPT and Claude to invest like a pro, hosted by Briefs Finance CEO Jaspreet Singh. Save your seat.
Fuqua's entering class did not fall as much as its applicant pool. Despite the slimmer pipeline, Anderson said the average GMAT increased by 15 points among the class of 2028.
International mix and pockets of strength
Even with softer demand, many elite programs kept their international share steady or raised it, though about a third posted a notably smaller proportion of foreign nationals requiring a US student visa. Dartmouth Tuck's share climbed 7 percentage points to 29%. MIT was unique in expanding both the percentage and the headcount of international students, enrolling 203 students from 65 countries.
At Anderson, the international share edged up to 36% of the class. Fraser said the school did not aim for that number, but the composition settled there naturally.
The picture in Europe was mixed. EDHEC Business School in Nice said applications fell 17%. Global MBA Director Sandra Richez noted that enrollments held up well relative to applications, supporting both class size and quality. She also noted that in certain emerging markets, including Africa, the volume of qualified applications jumped by 50% or higher, yet funding and visa barriers limited the conversion of those candidates; EDHEC is boosting financial aid for students from Africa and Latin America.
Why it matters for investors
Smaller applicant pools mean leaner or rebalanced classes now, which shapes the supply of new hires for consulting, tech, and finance over the next couple of recruiting cycles. Deeper scholarship budgets appear to be swaying admit decisions, while schools targeting steady class sizes are sometimes coming up short. The bottom line: US full-time MBA applications down 27%, international applicants to US graduate business programs down 38%, domestic down 6%, with program-level markers like Anderson's 21% and Georgetown's 22% application drops and MIT enrolling 203 students from 65 countries.
Keeping an open mind about fresh approaches can help you stay ahead. On 11/17, our CEO Jaspreet Singh goes live for our first ever investor livestream on how to use ChatGPT and Claude to invest like a pro. Register to join him.
