The Application Process

We don't talk a lot about Executive MBA programs. Why is that? They seem to be an afterthought to most business school applicants, especially as the average applicant continues to skew younger and younger. Well what about those applicants who are in the middle of their career? Who have ten plus years of experience? If you fit into that description, you really should consider an executive program instead of just the default option of doing the full time program. So just who is a good fit for Executive MBA programs and what results are they seeing after the program? All of that and more was discussed in the Executive MBA Council's (EMBAC) 2015 research report. The EMBAC is an association of more than 200 business schools that offer the part-time and executive study programs.
The first big trend is that men continue to dominate the population of executive MBA programs, which is interesting because of all of the increased investment to attract women to business schools. Apparently those efforts are largely focused on full time programs. Men make up 72% of the total enrollment in executive programs. However, female enrollment is on the rise. From 25.4% last year to 27.6% this year, which represents a nearly 10% increase.
Secondly, the average age of attendees is nearly 38 and the average years of work experience is 14, making the applicants fairly senior. Why should this matter to you if you are thinking about applying to a full time program instead of an executive program? Well, a lot of what you get out of business school is based on the students around you and the network you create. If you are nearly 40, which network do you think will help you more? One that is built of students who have between two and six years of work experience or one that is made up of other mid-level professionals who have over a dozen years of work experience.
Finally, you might be worried that executive programs don't receive the same level of respect from companies and recruiters. Well it's hard to prove that, but one thing we can look at is salary improvement after graduation. The average executive MBA participant enters the program making around $160 thousand and leaves the program earning $190 thousand, a greater than 20% pay increase in less than two years! Are executive programs starting to sound more interesting now? Well what if you could get your current company to help cover some of the costs of the program. According to the EMBAC a quarter of all students received full tuition reimbursement from their employer! Another 16% received reimbursement of at least half the cost of the program and a final 20% received at least some coverage from their employer. Not too bad.
So in conclusion, if you fit into that mid-career range of the typical executive MBA participant, you should really consider applying to that program in addition to the full time program. Your career just might thank you!