2010 mba.com Registrants Survey

Overview

This survey provides a description of more than 22,000 prospective business school students in their efforts to assess, decide about, and apply to graduate business school. It offers some insight into the intricacies of the decision-making process these prospective business students go through where economic, social, and personal pressures are taken into account.

The data for this report came from individuals who registered with mba.com―the GMAC^™ website for prospective graduate business and management students. Beginning in January, 2009, a random sample of the registrants was invited to participate in this ongoing study. This report includes data collected during the 2009 calendar year for individuals who registered on mba.com between October 2008 and September 2009. Overall, 22,111 individuals (8%) responded to the online questionnaire.

This report is designed to help graduate business schools better understand their potential applicant audience, inform their recruiting strategies, and provide insights that may help them in crafting their external marketing messages.

Quick Facts

• The vast majority of survey respondents were still intent on pursuing a graduate business education three months after they registered.
• Prospective students were primarily motivated to pursue a graduate business degree to develop and enhance their skill set, and advance their careers.
• The majority of respondents had reservations about the financial aspects of their education and the potential of incurring large debt.