By james art Local universities see an increase in enrollment in MBA programs, following a global trend this points in part to economic uncertainty.
Graduate directors of business programs at LSU and Southern University A&M College tell Daily report the increase in enrollment is in response to a competitive job market, a robust technology industry, and flexible MBA program offerings.
The LSU Flores MBA program saw a 15 percent increase in full-time, in-person applications in 2024, says Dana Hart, assistant dean of graduate business programs and director of LSU Flores MBA programs. Hart says the university initially saw more interest in the MBA program after the accelerated one-year format launched in 2019, but in 2022 the program began to take off. The LSU MBA program had more applications in 2023 than in the past decade, Hart says. This year, more than 100 students are enrolled in a full-time, face-to-face program, and four times that number are enrolled online.
The most popular specialization in the LSU MBA program is data analytics, Hart says. Cybersecurity risk management and emerging technology certification are also moving up the enrollment charts.
“Companies are really looking for that skill set,” Hart says of the data analytics program. “Everything we do is data-driven, so I think we’re seeing a lot of interest in that area for students to have a very tangible skill set to complement broad business fundamentals through an MBA experience.”
The demographics of MBA students in Baton Rouge are also changing. More minorities are pursuing MBAs, Hart reports. This year, LSU’s MBA program saw growth in women and students of color.
Southern University’s College of Business is experiencing similar enrollment trends. The number of applications to the university’s online MBA program has grown over the past four years, says Ashagre Yigletu, associate dean and director of graduate business programs at Southern University’s College of Business. The majority of students in the HBCU program are female and African-American. The program’s two leading areas of specialization are human resource management and supply chain management.
Yigletu says Southern University plans to eventually add more concentrations to the MBA program, including health care management and a graduate certificate in government contracting and procurement.