Your university website is likely to be the first port of call for prospective students researching undergraduate and postgraduate courses. It’s, therefore, vital that they are able to easily find all the information they need in order to make a decision about applying to your institution. However, a recent report published on TopMBA.com – entitled ‘How do MBA Applicants Research Business Schools?’ – reveals that some MBA applicants are struggling to find even relatively basic information.
Prospective students searching for scholarships & funding info
The TopMBA.com report reveals that, no matter what their course format(s) of interest, prospective MBAs tend to struggle to find the same sorts of information, with that relating to scholarships and funding rating as the most difficult.
This chimes with findings from our Students Online: Global Trends report, which asks the same question of those applying to bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. programs.
Fig. 1
Those looking to study for a master’s degree tended to struggle the most to find information on scholarships and funding – which could be considered fairly logical, as there is generally less scholarship provision at this level.
The inability to access funding and scholarship information represents a significant barrier to prospective students. They may favour your university, but not knowing if they can afford to do so will prevent students from applying to, and possibly even considering, your university.
MBA prospective students cannot find basic information
While accessing information on funding and scholarships is important – not being able to find it will be very frustrating for students who depend on financial assistance – what some business schools might find more concerning is the number of MBA applicants who struggle to find application, course content and visa information.
As shown in fig. 1, when surveying those applying to non-MBA programs, a maximum of 18% responded that they had difficulty finding course content, applications/admissions and student visa information.
However, when looking specifically at MBA applicants, up to 38% claim they have difficulty finding information on course content – information one would expect to be among the first things one would find on a business school website. Figures for application (24-28%) and visa information (20-30%) are also troubling. These results were found to be fairly consistently across MBA formats of interest.
Fig. 2
When researching universities, prospective students will have a lot of questions. If they cannot find the answers quickly and easily, you may lose them before they even apply.
To find out more about how MBA students research business schools, download the new report here.
