International Applications Decrease in Some Major U.S. Business Schools

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that there was a 4% decrease in Fall 2011 international student applications to the 25 United States business schools that normally award the largest number of degrees to international students.  The reason for this trend is thought to be increased competition from business schools in Europe and Asia that have invested significant resources in business programs in recent years.  While international applications increased by 4% overall to all U.S. business schools, this is significantly less than the 12% growth in international applicants in engineering and science programs, and the 8-9% growth in education, arts and humanities and life sciences programs.