Applications for graduate school admissions increase

Graduate school application rates, especially for graduate schools providing Master of Business Administration (MBA) courses, have increased significantly this year. Experts say the economic recession is the cause.

The reasons to why students apply for graduate schools vary. But Professor Woo Won-seok (International Studies) says, “It is a natural tendency that less people apply for graduate schools when economy is prospering, but during the time of economic recession like today, more people apply for graduate schools because they think they might not be able to get a job.” 

Master’s degrees can give students a chance to become more competitive in a job market, and business scholls seem to be especially appealing. According to the statistics published by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the average employment rate of graduates from MBA programs at seven graduate schools was 91.26 percent on of this August. “All of our graduates from the Global MBA program at the Korea University Business School (KUBS) were employed successfully,” said Kim Hee-yeon, a KUBS staff member.

              Another example of this tend is the Korean Development Institute (KDI) School of Public Policy and Management. TheKDISchool has not finished its 2009 Admissions process for the spring semester yet, but it has already seen a great increase in the number of inquiries about the program.

            “When we held information sessions for application this September and October, about 30 percent more people participated compared to last year,” said Kim Hyun-joo, who works in theKDISchool ’s External Affairs and Cooperation Office. Telephone calls from interested students and questions on its homepage also confirm people’s interest. In spite that, theKDISchool does not reveal its competitive rate and the number of applicants until the end of its application process, more people than the last year have applied so far according to Kim.

            GraduateSchool of Business (GSB)ofYonseiUniversity has also stated that its competitive rate for admissions has increased, according to GBS worker Kang Ji-young.

           “Some people decide to go to graduate school because they want to wait for a better economic situation during this kind of economic downturn. But, during normal times as well, a master’s degree can make an applicant more qualified than those who do not have one. In general, companies prefer those who have master’s degrees,” said Woo. 

          “I am sure that the experience and knowledge that I am going to acquire from graduate school will differentiate me from others when I try to get a job later,” said KUBS applicant Lee Min-hye.