The McCombs Scholarships You Need To Know
For many students looking to pursue a graduate business degree, the cost of an MBA can be a huge deterrent. As an unfortunate result, many qualified and ambitious student choose to not pursue the furthered education they deserve. Luckily, most business schools offer exemplary scholarship remedies to help alleviate costs. For those looking to pursue an MBA at Texas A&M University, we’ve listed the McCombs scholarships you need to know.
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Anxiety Persists for MBAs Despite Court Rebuke of Immigration Ban
Last week, a three-member panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit refused the Trump administration’s call to reinstate a ban barring the entry of all refugees and visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries into the United States. Although the case could still advance to the Supreme Court, yesterday’s ruling means that, for now, the executive order signed by President Donald Trump two weeks ago remains unenforceable.
That’s good news for international students from the affected countries, some of whom were detained at airports attempting to return to campus from overseas travel, others of whom were forced to cancel plans to leave the United States for fear they might not be allowed back in.
States Cite Harm to Higher Education as Major Reason for Opposing Ban
In affirming that the states of Washington and Minnesota had legal standing to bring the case against the immigration ban, the appellate judges specifically cited the ban’s injurious impact on the states’ public universities.
An excerpt from the ruling:
“Specifically, the States allege that the teaching and research missions of their universities are harmed by the Executive Order’s effect on their faculty and students who are nationals of the seven affected countries. These students and faculty cannot travel for research, academic collaboration, or for personal reasons, and their families abroad cannot visit. Some have been stranded outside the country, unable to return to the universities at all. The schools cannot consider attractive student candidates and cannot hire faculty from the seven affected countries, which they have done in the past.”
Citing the new court precedent, the judges argued that schools can assert the rights of their students. “The interests of the states’ universities here are aligned with the students. The students’ educational success is ‘inextricably bound up’ in the universities’ capacity to teach them,” the ruling says. “And the universities’ reputations depend on the success of their professors’ research.”
Of course, these concerns were not limited to public universities in the states of Washington and Minnesota. Indeed, as reported here, business schools around the nation were quick to decry the executive order on precisely those grounds. In the days immediately following Trump’s January 27 executive order, deans from Harvard Business School, UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, NYU Stern School of Business and Columbia Business School, among others, spoke out strongly in opposition to the immigration ban while pledging to support their own affected students.
Global Business Education Is Best Antidote to Economic Nationalism, Say Business School Deans
Earlier this week, the Global Network for Advanced Management, a group of 29 international business schools committed to advancing innovation through global exchange, issued a statement in opposition to the current rise of populism, economic nationalism and anti-globalization rhetoric, noting that the global economy is more interconnected than ever before, making global exchange and engagement more important than ever.
Excerpt from the Global Network letter:
“As deans of Global Network member schools, we recognize that the fundamental drivers of global business are not changing. Technology will continue to advance and disrupt markets and societies, and the transfer of innovations and expertise across borders will continue. We believe that countries that retrench will harm themselves and their citizens. Therefore, we redouble our commitment to collaborative learning across countries and cultures, and to gain and leverage the insights of the best and brightest throughout the world. In this way, we continue to improve educational outcomes and professional development of our students, deliver innovations that benefit business and society, and contribute to a better world.”
This letter carried the signatures of deans from Haas, HEC Paris, INSEAD, Oxford’s Saïd Business School and Yale School of Management, among many others.
In the wake of the executive order, Haas Dean Richard Lyons received a letter signed by more than 1,000 Haas MBA students requesting that he reach out to deans of other business schools to speak out jointly against the executive order. He responded early last week to the Haas community that he had done just that.
Heightened Anxiety Persists
Despite yesterday’s ruling, business schools have encouraged their international students to exercise caution with regard to planned travel outside of the United States. “The temporary restraining order, which halted the enforcement of certain provisions of President Trump’s executive order banning foreign nationals from seven countries from entering the U.S., remains in effect after a decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals,” read a notice posted today on the Harvard International Office (HIO) website. “Despite this ruling, the HIO continues to advise foreign nationals from the seven restricted countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen) to exercise caution and discuss any travel plans with their HIO Advisor when considering travel outside the United States.”
This is because future court rulings could reinstate the ban, in which case foreign nationals from those countries most likely would not be admitted or readmitted to the country.
Next Year’s International Enrollment at U.S. Business Schools in Question
It remains to be seen what type of impact this uncertainty may have on international enrollment at U.S. business school’s next year. As of this writing, most business schools we reached reported that, thus far, international application volume had not been impacted.
“International application volume in Round 2 was identical to last year,” says Haas Assistant Dean of the full-time MBA Program and Admissions Peter Johnson. “Since our Round 2 deadline was in early January, it was after the election and before the recent executive order. If there is any direct impact from these events, it will likely be seen in the enrollment patterns of admitted international students, in our program and in other MBA programs across the country.”
Concern about the current administration’s policies and their impact on international students has been widespread. “The uncertainty and anxiety surrounding changes in visa and immigration regulations is affecting all international students, not only those from the countries included in the recent executive order,” says Johnson. “We have had questions ranging from ‘Will this impact my chances of admission?’ to ‘Will I be able to do an internship in the U.S.?’”
Johnson confirmed that Haas has no plans to alter its admissions process and will continue to offer spaces in its class to top candidates regardless of their country of origin. “We are committed to maintaining a diverse and inclusive environment, and international students and faculty are an important part of our community and the educational experience of all students,” he pledged.
HBS Managing Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Chad Losee made a similar pledge in a post to his Director’s Blog earlier this week. In it, he reaffirmed the school’s commitment to assembling a diverse class of leaders who will make a difference in the world, wherever they come from. “The recent U.S. executive order restricting travel to America for citizens from certain countries does not change this, nor are we changing our admissions policy or practices as a result,” he wrote.
This article has been edited and republished with permissions from Clear Admit.
Diversity and Inclusion at USC Marshall
There’s no doubt that interacting with classmates is one of the best parts about attending an MBA program. That’s because when you surround yourself with excellence, you can’t help but excel yourself. And that’s definitely true at the USC Marshall MBA program. Not only are all Marshall MBA candidates top-tier, but they also arrive with a diversity of ideas and opinions that truly enrich the entire experience. In fact, according to the most recent class profile, 32 percent of the MBA class is composed of women, 32 percent are from outside of the U.S. and 13 percent are underrepresented minorities. Continue reading…
London Business School Leads 2016 Bloomberg BusinessWeek International MBA Rankings
London Business School (LBS) climbed to the very top spot on Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s ‘Best International Business Schools of 2016‘ list, released yesterday, up a notch from last year’s second-place showing. INSEAD, which has campuses in France, Singapore and Abu Dhabi, followed right behind, inching up from number three last year to second place this year. The United Kingdom’s other powerhouse business schools, Oxford’s Saïd Business School and Cambridge’s Judge Business School, fell in line at third and fourth respectively, representing a three-spot jump for Saïd over last year and a four-spot jump for Judge. Spain’s IESE also experienced gains year over year, sidling up two spots from last year’s seventh place to round out this year’s top five.
But as some schools inched up, others fell—most notably Western University’s Ivey Business School in Canada, which plummeted from the number one spot last year to 10th in 2016. Spain’s IE Business School and Switzerland’s International Institute for Management Development (IMD) each slipped two spots, to sixth and seventh this year. But Italy’s SDA Bocconi School of Management sauntered up four spots from 12th last year to land comfortably within the top 10 this year, at number eight. And Melbourne Business School has perhaps the most cause for celebration. The Australian school shot up a whopping 14 places to come in at number nine.
Like Bloomberg BW’s U.S. MBA rankings, released last month, its international MBA rankings are compiled using a methodology that assesses schools based on five factors: a survey of MBA recruiters, weighted at 35 percent; an alumni survey, weighted at 30 percent; a survey of the 2016 graduating class, weighted at 15 percent; the school’s placement rate, weighted at 10 percent, and the starting compensation for the class of 2016, weighted at 10 percent.
What this means, as the magazine points out, is that “it’s possible to rank highly without knocking every category out of the park.” Case in point, INSEAD came in second overall even though it ranked a meager 25th (out of 31) for job placement. (Bloomberg BW measures job placement as the percentage of graduates who land full-time employment within three months of graduation out of those seeking it—the figure reported by INSEAD was 81.6 percent, compared to an average 85.9 percent among all schools).
In terms of pay growth enjoyed by graduates of the 31 schools included in Bloomberg BW’s list, students came in at an average salary of $50,000, jumped to an average starting salary of $90,000 for their first job out of school and reported an average salary of $141,750 six to eight years out from graduation. The average MBA debt taken on by graduates across all ranked schools, meanwhile, was $40,000.
At a glance, here are the top 10 best international MBA programs in 2016 as ranked by Bloomberg BW:
- London Business School
- INSEAD
- Oxford (Saïd)
- Cambridge (Judge)
- IESE
- IE
- IMD
- SDA Bocconi
- Melbourne
- Western (Ivey)
As always, those of us here at MetroMBA encourage applicants to use rankings as just one of many means of evaluating which MBA program is the best fit to their individual needs and goals.
This article was republished with permission from Clear Admit.
International Students Wary Of Potential Immigration Changes
As the wake of the recent presidential election begins to settle, among the first effects has been a possible trajectory change where international students pursue an MBA.
The Financial Times recently followed the story of Amrita Dwivedi, a marketing executive from New Delhi who has worked with Google and Deloitte. Prior to last Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, Dwivedi was considered several standout U.S. business schools. After the results, however, they’re rescinding those suggestions, instead opting to focus on the London Business School and Insead to pursue their MBA.
“I want to be able to work in the country where I study after graduation,” they said in an interview with FT reporter Jonathan Moules. “So it is important to be in a place that is immigrant-friendly.”
Even in Europe, however, those options may also soon become limited. Just months after Great Britain opted to leave the European Union, new Prime Minister Theresa May has already gone on record saying that the number of student immigrant visas will likely be reduced. This could also potentially impact Dwivedi’s final decision.
The potential changes come after a wave of international students joined U.S. business schools with a record number of applications at many institutions, including at Michigan Ross.
Ross’ recently hired dean Scott DeRue shared some similar concerns over what could come during a Donald Trump presidency, as the new president-elect has gone on record multiple times against many immigration policies.
“I understand and empathise with those concerns but let’s remember that most presidents campaign in poetry and govern in prose,” DeRue says.
“If there was a restriction on visas to students that would clearly be somewhat harmful to us,” adds Chicago Booth School of Business dean Douglas Skinner. Booth has seen a precipitous rise in applicants in recent years, including a double-digit percentage increase in 2016. However, Skinner notes that nearly a third of students at Booth are from overseas—a figure that’s actually lower than many other business schools across the U.S.
Shading optimism, Skinner also notes that there’s a significant chance that domestic applicants may rise in the wake of policy changes. That, and the fact that Booth has been through some tough times before.
“We have been around since 1898, and the school has survived lots of ups and downs in the economy during that time,” he says.
Brexit And The International MBA
The shockwave of the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union in late June, 2016, caused an immeasurable amount of ripple effects—many of which are, still, difficult to quantify. Stocks immediately descended upon hearing the news of UK voters opting to the leave the EU by a close margin of 52 percent to 48 percent. Just four months after the move, the value of the English pound fell to its lowest rate in 31 years, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The long-term effect of the vote will take years—potentially decades—to determine. And one of the many areas potentially feeling those drastic effects is the MBA market in London.
As the financial epicenter of the world, London’s prestigious business schools have potentially a lot to lose when it comes to the value of the MBA, not mention the overall cost of earning one. Economic analysts have already speculated that the price of earning an MBA will diminish because of the value of the pound, but small purchases (like the brand new Apple MacBook Pro) will be more expensive in the U.K. than other markets because of the Brexit effect. So concerns, to put it lightly, are all over the map.
According to reports, new U.K. prime minister Theresa May has already gone on record saying that the number of international students joining the UK will be reduced in light of the vote, which was significantly driven by immigration concerns.
“As Home Secretary,” writes Bloomberg reporter Lance Lambert, “she implemented visa changes that made it harder for students from abroad to stay in the country after graduation. A crackdown on immigration was at the heart of the ‘Leave’ movement calling for Britain’s exit [from the EU].”
A crackdown in such a manner could drive a significant portion of potential students to competitive U.S. business schools, making the all-important talent pool more shallow in the U.K.
This isn’t the first attempt from May to curtail international students in recent years. As Home Office Secretary, May imposed tighter restrictions on student visas, which went into effect in 2015. The Chartered Association of Business Schools notes, “Non-EU first-year students studying business and administration in the country last year dropped 8.6 percent to 60,190, the lowest level since 2009-10.”
Of the £3.25 billion business students enter into the U.K. economy, £2.4 billion comes from international students—roughly 73 percent of the total amount. And with the potential £51 billion loss in revenue from British banks, the prestige of joining the finance industry in England may begin to deflate.
Not all news is dour, however. Considering the long-term effects haven’t yet played out, there remains some steady optimism that the negative effects won’t be as disastrous as some speculated.
Andrew Likierman, dean of London Business School, spoke with Bloomberg, saying, “In all of the dealings I’ve had with politicians … our students are precisely who they want to attract to the U.K.” He hopes the moves won’t eliminate top-tier talent from entering the country, rather, weed out the potentially weaker applicants.
“This isn’t the first time people have gotten anxious about globalization. This is just the latest of that manifestation,” Likierman says. “What we’re offering students from all over the world is to get a very global view of business. And the demand for that isn’t going away.”
With preparation for the full move still in its early stages (the U.K. doesn’t officially leave the EU until March 2017), how it will play out is exceptionally uncertain. John McDonnell, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, has gone on record saying that May and her cabinet are still in a “make it up as they go along” type of strategy, which probably doesn’t espouse confidence. The long-term success of the move may be predicated on how the country handles working with international markets, which also affects the value of its academic institutions and the aforementioned MBA programs.
If anything is certain, it is that MBA students will have a large opportunity to learn about the changes government initiatives have on businesses, both domestic and international. It’s just a matter of whether or not students will be in London to learn about it.
