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Tuition soars for MBA programs
September 28, 2011, Wednesday
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BUSINESS schools in China are charging more to enroll in MBA programs due to rising costs as they compete for students with their counterparts overseas. Liang Yiwen reports.
Business schools in China have expanded rapidly in the past two decades, coinciding with the economy's strong growth. This year, China celebrates the 20th anniversary of the establishment of an MBA program.
In 1991, the Ministry of Education approved nine universities to pilot MBA education programs.
At the time, most Chinese had little idea of what it was and couldn't tell the difference between MBA and NBA (National Basketball Association).
But the growing need for professional managers in firms and high returns have increased the number of applicants to these MBA programs by 20 percent annually in the past few years.
Now about 100,000 people apply to MBA programs every year and 236 universities have launched MBA courses.
However, the fast expansion has also led to concerns about the quality of the MBA education. There are now more students per class and the applicants keep getting younger. Some people question whether an MBA isstill worth it.
MBA tuition fees have increased from thousands of yuan to nearly 200,000 yuan (US$31,348) in the past two decades.
Peking University raised its part-time MBA class tuition fee by 40,000 yuan to 208,000 yuan for the 2012 MBA program. It is the first university in the country to charge more than 200,000 yuan for its MBA program.
Other first-tier universities, including Tsinghua University, Fudan University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, have raised MBA tuition fees for 2012 program to 188,000 yuan.
Many universities said they have increased the tuition fee to cover rising costs caused by inflation. They added that most of the tuition fees goes to hiring professors.
Carbo Pan, executive director of Shanghai International Studies University's MBA Center, said more than 60 percent of tuition was spent on faculty members.
SISU's MBA professors come from more than 10 countries and the center needs to cover their travel and boarding expenses.
Many other universities echoed her remarks, adding that salaries keep rising from year to year.
Zhang Chun, executive dean of Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance, said, "We must provide competitive salaries in line with international standards or higher to attract overseas professors to work in China."
SAIF's teachers have either overseas working experience or received education abroad.
The city government invested 320 million yuan (US$50 million) to build SAIF into a world-class business school.
The school's reputation around the world has risen quickly as more foreign students are applying to the program since it started in 2009.
A total of 15 foreign students were enrolled at SAIF this month, compared with five in the previous academic year. They come from countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Switzerland and Austria.
Local schools hope to attract more expatriates working in multinationals with offices in Shanghai to their MBA programs. So like it or not, they have to compete with overseas MBA schools, some of which have more than 100 years of history.
However, there's still a long way to go for domestic MBA schools to compete with the likes of Harvard and Wharton.
Meanwhile, the fast expansion has intensified competition among MBA schools in China.
MBA schools have put forward lots of measures to attract applicants. They give extra points to ideal candidates with good work experience and grant interviews before the national written exams.
Peking University has admitted 20 graduates who do not have any work experience in a pilot program that begins next year.
The plan has sparked widespread criticism with many saying the university is taking a step backwards. Currently, MBA students need three years of work experience.
Business schools in Shanghai have no plans to introduce such reforms. They are upgrading courses and scholarships to nurture the spirit of entrepreneurship among students in the new school year.
Dong Ming, deputy dean of Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Antai College of Economics and Management, said that students still have weak entrepreneurship and practical abilities.
According to a survey of students admitted by the college last year, 21 percent have started their own businesses while 45 percent plan to do so.
The college created a start-up fund worth 20 million yuan this year by working with the Shanghai Technology Entrepreneurship Foundation for Graduates.
Students and alumni can get funding ranging from 300,000 yuan to 500,000 yuan from the university to start a business.
Business schools in China have expanded rapidly in the past two decades, coinciding with the economy's strong growth. This year, China celebrates the 20th anniversary of the establishment of an MBA program.
In 1991, the Ministry of Education approved nine universities to pilot MBA education programs.
At the time, most Chinese had little idea of what it was and couldn't tell the difference between MBA and NBA (National Basketball Association).
But the growing need for professional managers in firms and high returns have increased the number of applicants to these MBA programs by 20 percent annually in the past few years.
Now about 100,000 people apply to MBA programs every year and 236 universities have launched MBA courses.
However, the fast expansion has also led to concerns about the quality of the MBA education. There are now more students per class and the applicants keep getting younger. Some people question whether an MBA isstill worth it.
MBA tuition fees have increased from thousands of yuan to nearly 200,000 yuan (US$31,348) in the past two decades.
Peking University raised its part-time MBA class tuition fee by 40,000 yuan to 208,000 yuan for the 2012 MBA program. It is the first university in the country to charge more than 200,000 yuan for its MBA program.
Other first-tier universities, including Tsinghua University, Fudan University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, have raised MBA tuition fees for 2012 program to 188,000 yuan.
Many universities said they have increased the tuition fee to cover rising costs caused by inflation. They added that most of the tuition fees goes to hiring professors.
Carbo Pan, executive director of Shanghai International Studies University's MBA Center, said more than 60 percent of tuition was spent on faculty members.
SISU's MBA professors come from more than 10 countries and the center needs to cover their travel and boarding expenses.
Many other universities echoed her remarks, adding that salaries keep rising from year to year.
Zhang Chun, executive dean of Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance, said, "We must provide competitive salaries in line with international standards or higher to attract overseas professors to work in China."
SAIF's teachers have either overseas working experience or received education abroad.
The city government invested 320 million yuan (US$50 million) to build SAIF into a world-class business school.
The school's reputation around the world has risen quickly as more foreign students are applying to the program since it started in 2009.
A total of 15 foreign students were enrolled at SAIF this month, compared with five in the previous academic year. They come from countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Switzerland and Austria.
Local schools hope to attract more expatriates working in multinationals with offices in Shanghai to their MBA programs. So like it or not, they have to compete with overseas MBA schools, some of which have more than 100 years of history.
However, there's still a long way to go for domestic MBA schools to compete with the likes of Harvard and Wharton.
Meanwhile, the fast expansion has intensified competition among MBA schools in China.
MBA schools have put forward lots of measures to attract applicants. They give extra points to ideal candidates with good work experience and grant interviews before the national written exams.
Peking University has admitted 20 graduates who do not have any work experience in a pilot program that begins next year.
The plan has sparked widespread criticism with many saying the university is taking a step backwards. Currently, MBA students need three years of work experience.
Business schools in Shanghai have no plans to introduce such reforms. They are upgrading courses and scholarships to nurture the spirit of entrepreneurship among students in the new school year.
Dong Ming, deputy dean of Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Antai College of Economics and Management, said that students still have weak entrepreneurship and practical abilities.
According to a survey of students admitted by the college last year, 21 percent have started their own businesses while 45 percent plan to do so.
The college created a start-up fund worth 20 million yuan this year by working with the Shanghai Technology Entrepreneurship Foundation for Graduates.
Students and alumni can get funding ranging from 300,000 yuan to 500,000 yuan from the university to start a business.
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