This year has been a turning point for masters in management degrees, which are analysed and assessed in the FT’s 2020 MiM Ranking, published today. In 2019, when the global economy was motoring and jobs markets were booming in Europe and the US, most business schools offering this postgraduate qualification were reporting a decline in demand, according to entrance exam administrator the Graduate Management Admission Council.
Then coronavirus burst the economic bubble, reigniting demand for full-time study as the opportunity cost of obtaining a postgraduate business qualification such as the MiM — which is generally studied straight after a bachelors degree — fell sharply.
“The pandemic has only increased interest in the MiM,” says Tim Mescon, executive vice-president and chief officer, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, at business school accreditation body the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. “Globally we are seeing the phenomenon we saw in 2008-09 when the financial crisis caused the last global meltdown. Many people are looking at their situation, saying maybe this is what I need to do for the next year to work on polishing my credentials.”