MARKET-INFORMED EDUCATION: RESPONSIVENESS OF GRADUATE BUSINESS PROGRAMS

Online course offerings have become ubiquitous in modern higher education. The trend is particularly strong in graduate business programs. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the prospective effectiveness of graduate business programs responsiveness to market informed education. The analysis evaluates comparative 2013-2017 enrollment growth of MBA campus, MBA online, Specialized Graduate Business campus, and Specialized Graduate Business online programs ranked by U.S. News & World Report. Results indicate substantial enrollment growth in online programs compared to stagnant growth in traditional campus programs. Leading graduate business programs might focus on considerations other than enrollment growth such as job placement and maintaining the exclusivity of the brand. The results from this manuscript provide evidence supporting the notion of market forces pushing many programs into the online platform if there is a desire to maintain or expand enrollment.