Southern California schools with MBA programs showed a slight decrease in the number of Southern California enrollees, down about 2% from a year ago, based on the Business Journal’s annual survey. The number of enrollees dropped from 12,418 in September 2016 to 12,171 last month. It was a smaller drop than that reflected on last year’s list, when there was an approximate 6% change from September 2015 to September 2016.
The number of Southern California MBA graduates also saw a slight dip, dropping about 1.6% from 5,504 in June 2016 to 5,418 this past June. Similarly, it was a smaller drop than the number reflected on last year’s list, when there was an approximate 7% slip from 6,000 in June 2015 to 5,598 in June 2016.
This year’s unranked directory contains 39 MBA programs. The directory contains programs that vary in terms of how they’re delivered, whether it’s on campus, online, or a combination of both. It also varies in terms of full-time and part-time programs.
Pepperdine University’s Irvine-based MBA program, for instance, is a part-time program where graduates have anywhere from two to seven years to complete it and graduate. For University of Southern California’s campus in Irvine, the school takes on a small cohort for its part-time MBA program. The Orange County students start the program in Irvine. After the first year, they take all of their classes at the main campus in Los Angeles.
Some schools did not report numbers. Some still don’t have 2017 enrollment numbers.
In terms of the national scene, graduate degrees in business and management continue to be the most common master’s-level degrees awarded in the U.S., even as the number of applications for the degree programs has stabilized in recent years, according to a 2016 report by the Graduate Management Admission Council, an international nonprofit organization of business schools.
Application volumes have been mixed in recent years, with smaller programs tending to receive fewer applications and larger programs experiencing growth, according to the report. The environment makes year-to-year changes in application volumes harder to predict. A proliferation of business programs nationwide has created a more competitive environment, resulting in fewer applications for individual programs, the report says.
Universities accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business are held to the highest standards in business education and, on our list, include the University of California-Irvine, Chapman University in Orange and California State University-Fullerton.
Behind the Numbers
• UCI’s Paul Merage School of Business saw its total MBA enrollment rise about 2%.
“The 2% growth for UCI’s business school is a positive sign and due primarily to our new, highly successful hybrid fully-employed MBA program,” which began last fall, according to Dean Eric Spangenberg. The program is a combination of online learning and classroom experience.
UCI’s total number of graduates decreased by about 12% from 313 to 277.
• The biggest decrease in total SoCal MBA enrollment was Loyola Marymount University in L.A. Its enrollment dropped about 39% from 140 a year ago to 86 as of last month.
• The biggest increase in SoCal grads was Biola University in La Mirada. Its graduates increased about 367% from six in June 2016 to 28 this June.
In 2014 Gary Lindblad moved from the Paul Merage School of Business to Biola’s Crowell School of Business as dean. Crowell’s MBA program, which was “a solid, but small, program” was one of the first growth targets he identified, examining how to attract more students, he said.
First, the school made it possible to attend the program full time, enabling students to complete their degrees in 16 months. It also opened several slots to highly qualified recent university grads. And it changed its marketing strategy to increase the school’s exposure, especially on social media.
“You can’t attend an MBA program you haven’t heard of,” he said.
Lindblad said he believes the MBA program, which focuses on using business to serve society and the common good “is a transformational experience for students—aligning their purpose, calling, giftedness and career.”
The school now has 55 graduate students at Crowell, most in the MBA program and a handful in the newly launched Master of Management in Nonprofit Organizations.
