The Real Reasons Why Americans Are Going To Europe For Their MBA

The Wall Street Journal has just published an article looking at the growing US demand for a European MBA. The piece leads with the idea that a stronger US dollar is fueling this demand - perhaps true for schools with tuition fees in euros, though this wouldn't explain the growing demand for an MBA in the UK, where sterling is at the same level as January 2015.

There are other more compelling reasons behind this growing demand, not least the fact that Europe now boasts a growing number of the world's top business schools. With our dream team of former Admissions Directors and senior admissions officers from INSEAD, LBS and IE Business School as well as the top 10 US schools, Fortuna Admissions receives thousands of enquiries every year from MBA hopefuls considering an MBA in Europe. The WSJ reporter, Lindsay Gellman, was kind enough to interview us for her article, and quotes the 50% increase that we have seen this year from US citizens indicating their interest in European business schools.

So what is fuelling this interest? For schools in the Euro zone, whose tuition in dollar terms has fallen by as much as 33% in the last 12 months, value for money is certainly a factor. Prof Filip Roodhooft, the Research Dean at Belgium’s leading b-school Vlerick Business School points out that based on the Financial Times full-time MBA ranking, five of the top ten MBAs based on value for money last year were in Europe, and this trend will only increase with the slide in the euro.

But beyond the exchange rate I think there are four key reasons for the growing demand, both from the US and the rest of the world:
1. The issue of ROI is more about the shorter European program length (the two-year MBA programmes at LBS and IESE are notable exceptions), and therefore a lower opportunity cost. Foregoing your salary to return to school is not an easy decision, and taking two years off can look even more daunting. While the top US business schools continue to deliver an outstanding education and impressive career and salary progress, the eye-watering cost is to for the faint of heart.
2. There is growing awareness among US young professionals of the importance of the global market, and how an MBA in Europe can help them to stand out in the job market - additional cultural business skills for the multinational or company wanting to develop internationally, language skills, and developing an international network outside of the US. Certainly companies like L’Oréal, P&G, Google etc prize recruits with a global mindset.
3. Age is a big factor.At Fortuna we wrote about the over 30s applying to b-school  and that really struck a chord with a lot of people who see the trend at HBS and the GSB towards a younger average age in the MBA. European schools have traditionally attracted older applicants (in part because of lengthier studies, and also because the 1-year format works well for someone earning a good living at the age of 30+).
4. A focus on specialisation. If you want a career in the luxury sector (LVMH, Kering, etc) then you head to France and the likes of HEC Paris, EMLyon or ESCP Europe. If you want tech engineering you might head to Germany to a school like ESMT Berlin.

There are no doubt other drivers that are fuelling the demand for a European MBA - dreaming spires of Oxbridge, good time keeping in Switzerland, and studying in the home town of Manchester United or Real Madrid (that might just be me!)

Perhaps you have your own thoughts on the subject. I'd love to hear them.