<p><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10826693/%5B/url%5D">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10826693/</a>
I know grad school is just another industry, but does this trend also affect other master's programs?</p>
<p>I think the skid has to be put in the proper perspective. Let's not forget that the 2001-2003 timeframe was an unusual high point for B-schools, because the dotcom bust created all these newly unemployed tech managers who used to be have (inflated) titles of director or Vice president, or even President of a dotcom, or were high-flying technology consultants. When the dotcoms disappeared, those guys didn't want to go back to taking the regular low-level jobs that they would have had under normal economic conditions. After all, once you've been a high-powered manager, going back to being a lowly staff worker at a boring big company just isn't going to cut it anymore. So a lot of them went to B-school instead, some because they they were trying to 'run out the clock' waiting for the dotcom boom to return (which it has, to some extent), and others becauase they realized that if they wanted any hope of maintaining their position and power and not have to swallow their pride and take a low-level job, B-school was a way for them to keep their wings and continue flying. </p>
<p>The point is, I don't really think that B-schools are declining so much as they are just going back to normal.</p>
<p>I thought it was more because of the lack of foreign students. I know someone that is starting his MBA now. He didn't have stellar grades, I think a 3.2 and he has no corporate experience. He went from his BA in poly sci, directly to this MBA , and at the same school. I had wondered how he got accepted. The school is a "public IVY".</p>