MBA gives `bang for your buck'
By KEVIN SCHUMM
News Writer
Amid an impressive field of dynamic business schools, Notre Dame's Master's in Business Association program ranks 18th in providing "the best bang for your buck," according to a new survey in the Feb. 7 issue of Forbes magazine.
"It is certainly gratifying to see the value of the Notre Dame MBA education acknowledged by Forbes," said Carolyn Woo, dean of the College of Business. "However, it is important to remember that the value of an education goes beyond the financial dimensions. At Notre Dame, we are committed to an education that, most importantly, develops responsible leadership, independent thinking, and teamwork."
As the cost of a MBA education continues to rise, Forbes attempted to gauge an MBA student's gain relative to his or her investment. The survey, which assessed 50 schools, gathered salary information from each school's Class of 1994. Looking at compensation before matriculation, just after graduation and four and a half years later, the magazine compared the apparent salary gains to the costs of the MBA programs. The cost of each program incorporated not merely tuition but also lost salaries.
The gains of the MBA education are readily apparent despite Notre Dame's $22,000 annual tuition. Notre Dame finished in the top 20 with graduates making, on average, $48,000 more in 1998 than they had before enrolling.
While the MBA program acknowledges the ranking, they are focused on other issues.
"Our primary concern is quality," said Hayden Estrada, director of admissions for the MBA program. Despite last year's solid median GMAT score of 639, already up from 613 two years ago, "we're working on getting the GMAT up a little bit higher," Estrada said. "We're really looking to create a good enough applicant base where we're really comfortable with everyone's quantitative ability and a lot of that's measured through the GMAT."
While GPA and GMAT scores are important, "the most impact as far as the quality of the teaching in the school and the quality of discussion in the classroom is work experience," he said.
The MBA program is looking for candidates to have somewhere between three and seven years of work experience, the ideal being five years.
A significantly increased number of applications and higher enrollment should allow for the additional selectivity the MBA program desires.
Beyond test scores and work experience, the MBA program strives to admit a "class with its own personality," said Estrada.
"What we try and do is to make the personality such that the class gives more back to the school and to the community than the year before and I think that's really happening here now," he said.
International students comprise nearly 30 percent of the MBA program at Notre Dame. Their presence helps to create a solid balance.
"What we want is for people to expand their own fields of reference through interacting with other people who have completely different fields of reference. It allows people to see things through other people's eyes," said Estrada.
Just as the program has shifted its focus over the past few decades to the benefits of international influence, so too has it recognized the need for an equally strong emphasis on not only managerial decision-making but also implementation.
"You've got to be able to not only think through problems but make things work," said Woo.
Undergraduate students shouldn't worry about a rising MBA program negatively affecting their own programs though.
"In any one area, what we learn in the MBA program, once we have developed the curriculum, once we have taught it, once we have gauged its competence, that will flow through to other programs," said Woo.
With recognition from institutions like Forbes and the shared vision of Woo and Estrada, the Notre Dame MBA program is establishing itself in the world of business schools.
"Business is really one of the most creative and empowering professions," said Woo. "It's really in the world of making things happen. You have to exercise judgement. You have to understand how people work. You have to be flexible and creative in terms of matching the challenge to the resources that you have and the personality of the people."
All News Stories for Friday, February 4, 2000
