UT’s Masters in Business Administration program has seen a 24 percent increase in applicants for the spring 2009 semester, compared to last year, said Rob Meyer, a spokesman for the Red McCombs School of Business.
Meyer said he thinks this drastic increase is due to the current economic recession.
“Typically we get more applications during times of economic downturn because people are going back to school rather than entering the workforce,” Meyer said.
In times of economic recession, layoffs and difficulty in finding jobs can cause people to leave the workforce or just not enter it after graduation, said Karrol Kitt, associate human ecology professor.
“Historically, when economic times are difficult, education becomes a more attractive option for people so they can improve their human capital,” Kitt said. “So then, when the economy turns around they will be in a better position to move forward in their financial, as well as professional, lives.”
During the dot-com crisis in the early 2000s, which occurred when dot-com stock prices fell drastically and forced many companies out of business, the number of graduate students at UT also increased.
Between 2000 and 2003, the number of fall graduate students at UT increased from 11,834 to 13,043. The number of graduate students enrolled at UT then tapered off to 12,660 in 2006.
Alden Oreck, a second-year McCombs MBA student, said he thinks the layoffs occurring all over the country are the main reasons more people are applying for their MBAs.
“One thing is the massive layoffs,” Oreck said. “The second is people were thinking of leaving their jobs anyway, and now their job security is gone so they left. There are a lot of voluntary layoffs, too. If your firm will pay you to leave, then why not?”
Major companies have been announcing massive layoffs all year. Dell Inc.’s layoffs and job cuts will total 8,900 this year, and finance corporation Citigroup Inc.’s layoffs amount to 52,000, according to Reuters.
Oreck, who had five and a half years of work experience before leaving to get his MBA, said the decision to leave a job and go to graduate school really depends on a person’s
situation.
“On the one hand, you’ve got people who are secure in their job, but if they were thinking about going to school, it’s certainly more competitive now,” he said. “So if your job is stable and in two years the economy is still bad, then you’re taking a risk.”
Finance senior Daniel Jenson said going straight to graduate school may not be a feasible option for many graduating undergraduate business students.
“There’s a possibility more students may be applying this year because they don’t want to enter the workforce, but I think a lot of MBA programs look for two to three years of experience, so a lot of people may have to try to get a job for a while before they apply to graduate school,” Jenson said.
Jenson is planning on entering the workforce after he graduates in December but is not yet sure whether he will come back to school to pursue an MBA.
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