In the Herald Today, International Education

The International Herald Tribune had a special section
on international education (mostly in Europe) as it does
every now and then. This includes various advertisements
for various programs-schools.

One article had to do with British MBA programs, which have
expanded greatly recently since the demand has increased.

Problem of getting student visas to enter the US is one factor
pushing foreigners to go to Britain. But some Americans are doing
it too, the goal is to spend a study period overseas. But US programs
are very expensive, going to Harvard for two years runs about $130,000
and counting in lost salary, this come to a half a million dollars.
But a good reason to go overseas, if one is into international business,
is that one escapes the insularism of one`s own culture, whatever that
culture might be.

The article is available on the IHT web site and here it is for those
who wish to read it.

For other articles of today go to

http://www.iht.com/frontpage.html


Earl

******


Many pick Britain over U.S. for an MBA

Johannah Ladd IHT
Tuesday, February 17, 2004

*
CAMBRIDGE, England When Amelia Dunlop was shopping for graduate business
schools last year, she decided to bypass the usual elite American
universities and apply abroad.

"Doing an MBA abroad was a way to kill multiple birds with one stone and get
several years' experience for the price of one," said Dunlop, now 27 and a
student at the Judge Institute of Management Studies, Cambridge University.

Dunlop, a New Yorker who graduated from Harvard, represents a growing trend
of young corporate climbers for whom a non-American master of business
administration degree offers a cost-efficient alternative, plus the bonus of
some international experience to differentiate themselves in a tough job
market. For a growing number of students from around the world, that means
looking to study in Britain.

"The U.K. market for overseas students is very buoyant," said Paula Glason,
director of communications for the Association of MBAs, a British-based
networking organization for students, schools and recruiters.

Overseas students studying business and management in Britain increased to
19,830 in 2002 from 15,010 in 2000, according to the latest figures from the
Higher Education Statistics Agency. Of 5,812 students in full-time MBA
programs in Britain in 2002, 83 percent were from overseas, compared with 71
percent in 1999.

At the Cranfield School of Management, part of Cranfield University,
applications from international students now make up 79 percent of total
applications, compared with 62 percent in 2000. Sixty-five percent of
Cranfield's student body this year is from overseas, compared with 40
percent in 2000. At the Saïd Business School, Oxford University, the
proportion was 82 percent in 2002, and 86 percent in 2003, with the biggest
influxes coming from Africa, Asia and Australia.

In today's competitive job market, students are looking for degrees outside
their home countries to position themselves as global managers fluent in
international practices. Among them is Simon Tindall, an Australian who
turned down a scholarship to Georgetown University in Washington in favor of
Cambridge.

"An MBA from the U.S. has a reputation for coming wrapped in the Stars and
Stripes," Tindall said. "Here I'm exposed to international management
styles, which is extremely attractive to global recruiters."

Colin Mayer, founding professor of finance at Saïd, agreed.

"It's a considerable selling point if a student can demonstrate an awareness
of how business is done in different countries," Mayer said.

The students in non-U.S. programs have a greater diversity of nationalities
than their U.S. counterparts. Foreign students constitute an average 70
percent to 80 percent of non-U.S. MBA programs. In contrast, the Wharton
School, at the University of Pennsylvania, reports one of the highest
percentages of international students for an American program at 39 percent,
a figure that includes U.S. permanent residents.

For Ngu Muna, a Cameroonian student at London Business School, part of the
advantage of his decision stems from the exposure to a diversity of
cultures.

"I learned the Korean way is very flexible and laid back," Muna said. "With
some of the Europeans, you can't make a joke if you're working. Our study
group is a great learning experience you couldn't get anywhere else, because
you can afford to make mistakes. You don't want to offend when you're
getting paid to be productive."

Rosemaria Martinelli, director of MBA admissions and financial aid at the
Wharton School, said the choice between the U.S. two-year model and the
shorter international format ultimately boils down to whether the MBA ³is a
career switch or a career enhancer.²

Students looking to change career direction would benefit from the depth of
two years of study, Martinelli said, but those further along in their career
path or those who are in a specialty see a better return on investment in a
one-year program.

A pitfall for students seeking the prestigious and expensive MBA credential,
she said, is that ³there are too few people who help students do these first
steps of self-assessment.² Martinelli has led Wharton to dedicate part of
its Web site to enable such an assessment (³Why an MBA?²), even encouraging
certain candidates to consider a consolidated European MBA rather than
Wharton's.

Foreign enrollment at the top 30 American business schools dropped to 30
percent in 2002 from 32 percent in 2000, with further declines predicted,
according to Business Week, the U.S. magazine.

While the tough recruiting climate for graduates entering the U.S. job
market is a factor in the decrease, another pressure point seems to be
restrictions on visas for travel, education and work in the United States
after the war in Iraq, severe acute respiratory syndrome in Asia and
political changes related to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Five Chinese students, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they
did not want Cambridge to know that it was not their first choice, said they
had refused offers at top MBA programs in the United States because of visa
problems. One student said that she had been offered a full scholarship to
attend the University of Michigan's MBA program in 2002 but that a visa
request had been denied two years in a row. Another could not obtain a visa
to enroll at the University of California at Los Angeles.

"I decided not to apply for the visa again," she said. "I didn't want to
waste my money and time and to be insulted. It's a very bad feeling."

Even students who obtain visas to study in the United States are facing
difficulties obtaining authorization to stay and work after completing an
MBA. Sabu Samarnath, an Indian MBA student at Cranfield, for example, said
he was disappointed by the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration
at the University of Virginia because "I got the feeling that I was welcome,
yes, but they weren't confident they could get me work authorization to
secure my internship placement."

Without the summer internship, an integral aspect of two-year American
programs that typically leads to a full-time job offer, Samarnath said,
"there was no value in going there."

Concerns over employability also persuaded Juan Pablo Meijide, an Argentine,
to choose the London Business School over universities in the United States.
He said friends in U.S. programs had warned him that "if you don't have a
work permit, you can't even go to some of the recruiting presentations."

"I wanted to work abroad and my employability was an issue," Meijide said.
"In the States it would be much more difficult because of the changes in the
last few years."

To work in the United States, noncitizen students must either find an
employer to sponsor an H1 visa or obtain a Green Card to stay permanently.
In 2003, the U.S. government capped the number of H1 visas available at
65,000 a year, compared to 195,000 in previous years.

In the meantime, Britain has made it easier for business school graduates to
obtain work clearance. One way is the Highly Skilled Migrant Program, which
was introduced in 2002 and allows applicants to quantify their eligibility
by achieving 75 points on a scale that measures work experience, advanced
degrees (an MBA is worth 25 points), previous salary level (25 points if
over £40,000, or about $74,000, and specialist skills.

Many students are also being attracted by the affordability of international
programs, especially in relation to costs in the United States. Most MBA
programs outside the United States can be completed in one year rather than
two, representing a huge saving in both tuition and opportunity costs.

Armando Villasmil Jiminez, a Venezuelan student at Cranfield, said he sought
out a one-year program because "being without a salary for two years was too
much."

The cost of an MBA in Continental Europe or Britain, including living
expenses, is typically around $65,000. A U.S. degree can cost twice as much.
The Harvard Business School estimates its fees, including living expenses,
at $129,000 for two academic years. With two years of lost income, the total
expense can easily approach a quarter of a million dollars.

J. Moore, who is from Atlanta, said he had declined Harvard to attend
Cambridge mainly because "it made economic sense."

For Anglophones, British programs additionally have the language advantage.
Most British programs do not require students to become fluent in another
language to graduate, which appeals to applicants from North America,
Australia and New Zealand.

Prestige is also a powerful pull for applicants, and Britain has an edge
over other international programs in both rankings and brand value.

"Latin Americans are aware of maybe four business schools - Stanford,
Harvard, Wharton and LBS," Meijide, the Argentine, said, referring to the
London Business School.

According to the full-time global MBA rankings compiled by the Financial
Times, 18 of the top 35 European schools are in Britain.

"Going to Cambridge gives you credibility by association," said Dunlop, the
Harvard graduate.

But just when interest in British MBA programs is highest, it may be harder
than ever for U.S. candidates to gain admission. Schools are meticulous
about calibrating the mix of nationalities coming in each year.

"The percentage of Americans we have now is near the maximum we would ever
have, in the interest of preserving the international diversity of the
class," said George Yip, former dean and professor at the London Business
School, expressing a sentiment shared by officials at several other
programs.

At 23 percent of the total class, Americans now outnumber Britons at the
London Business School.

Better rankings also attract better students, who in turn improve the
rankings, a cycle that is poised to benefit British programs tremendously
within the next decade.

"The applications we received this year were on average much higher quality
than last year," said Simon Learmount, the admissions director at Cambridge,
adding that this trend would very likely continue.

Rachel Tufft, associate admissions director at the Manchester Business
School, agreed. "The increase in applications enables us to be more
selective," Tufft said. "Year to year, we're looking to increase the quality
of the student body, which in turn strengthens competition for the whole
program."

Johannah Ladd is a Harvard Law School graduate and writer living in
Cambridge, England.

Copyright © 2003 The International Herald Tribune

Interesting article. I graduated from Georgetown Law's J.D. program,
which had a number of study abroad programs that would seem to meet
this need, but it will be interesting to see if the increased focus on
globalization would, despite differences in legal systems, lead to an
increase in this trend.

Alan J. Lipman, J.D., Ph.D.



Earl Evleth wrote in message ...
The International Herald Tribune had a special section
on international education (mostly in Europe) as it does
every now and then. This includes various advertisements
for various programs-schools.

One article had to do with British MBA programs, which have
expanded greatly recently since the demand has increased.

Problem of getting student visas to enter the US is one factor
pushing foreigners to go to Britain. But some Americans are doing
it too, the goal is to spend a study period overseas. But US programs
are very expensive, going to Harvard for two years runs about $130,000
and counting in lost salary, this come to a half a million dollars.
But a good reason to go overseas, if one is into international business,
is that one escapes the insularism of one`s own culture, whatever that
culture might be.

The article is available on the IHT web site and here it is for those
who wish to read it.

For other articles of today go to

http://www.iht.com/frontpage.html


Earl

******


Many pick Britain over U.S. for an MBA

Johannah Ladd IHT
Tuesday, February 17, 2004

*
CAMBRIDGE, England When Amelia Dunlop was shopping for graduate business
schools last year, she decided to bypass the usual elite American
universities and apply abroad.

"Doing an MBA abroad was a way to kill multiple birds with one stone and get
several years' experience for the price of one," said Dunlop, now 27 and a
student at the Judge Institute of Management Studies, Cambridge University.

Dunlop, a New Yorker who graduated from Harvard, represents a growing trend
of young corporate climbers for whom a non-American master of business
administration degree offers a cost-efficient alternative, plus the bonus of
some international experience to differentiate themselves in a tough job
market. For a growing number of students from around the world, that means
looking to study in Britain.

"The U.K. market for overseas students is very buoyant," said Paula Glason,
director of communications for the Association of MBAs, a British-based
networking organization for students, schools and recruiters.

Overseas students studying business and management in Britain increased to
19,830 in 2002 from 15,010 in 2000, according to the latest figures from the
Higher Education Statistics Agency. Of 5,812 students in full-time MBA
programs in Britain in 2002, 83 percent were from overseas, compared with 71
percent in 1999.

At the Cranfield School of Management, part of Cranfield University,
applications from international students now make up 79 percent of total
applications, compared with 62 percent in 2000. Sixty-five percent of
Cranfield's student body this year is from overseas, compared with 40
percent in 2000. At the Saïd Business School, Oxford University, the
proportion was 82 percent in 2002, and 86 percent in 2003, with the biggest
influxes coming from Africa, Asia and Australia.

In today's competitive job market, students are looking for degrees outside
their home countries to position themselves as global managers fluent in
international practices. Among them is Simon Tindall, an Australian who
turned down a scholarship to Georgetown University in Washington in favor of
Cambridge.

"An MBA from the U.S. has a reputation for coming wrapped in the Stars and
Stripes," Tindall said. "Here I'm exposed to international management
styles, which is extremely attractive to global recruiters."

Colin Mayer, founding professor of finance at Saïd, agreed.

"It's a considerable selling point if a student can demonstrate an awareness
of how business is done in different countries," Mayer said.

The students in non-U.S. programs have a greater diversity of nationalities
than their U.S. counterparts. Foreign students constitute an average 70
percent to 80 percent of non-U.S. MBA programs. In contrast, the Wharton
School, at the University of Pennsylvania, reports one of the highest
percentages of international students for an American program at 39 percent,
a figure that includes U.S. permanent residents.

For Ngu Muna, a Cameroonian student at London Business School, part of the
advantage of his decision stems from the exposure to a diversity of
cultures.

"I learned the Korean way is very flexible and laid back," Muna said. "With
some of the Europeans, you can't make a joke if you're working. Our study
group is a great learning experience you couldn't get anywhere else, because
you can afford to make mistakes. You don't want to offend when you're
getting paid to be productive."

Rosemaria Martinelli, director of MBA admissions and financial aid at the
Wharton School, said the choice between the U.S. two-year model and the
shorter international format ultimately boils down to whether the MBA ³is a
career switch or a career enhancer.²

Students looking to change career direction would benefit from the depth of
two years of study, Martinelli said, but those further along in their career
path or those who are in a specialty see a better return on investment in a
one-year program.

A pitfall for students seeking the prestigious and expensive MBA credential,
she said, is that ³there are too few people who help students do these first
steps of self-assessment.² Martinelli has led Wharton to dedicate part of
its Web site to enable such an assessment (³Why an MBA?²), even encouraging
certain candidates to consider a consolidated European MBA rather than
Wharton's.

Foreign enrollment at the top 30 American business schools dropped to 30
percent in 2002 from 32 percent in 2000, with further declines predicted,
according to Business Week, the U.S. magazine.

While the tough recruiting climate for graduates entering the U.S. job
market is a factor in the decrease, another pressure point seems to be
restrictions on visas for travel, education and work in the United States
after the war in Iraq, severe acute respiratory syndrome in Asia and
political changes related to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Five Chinese students, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they
did not want Cambridge to know that it was not their first choice, said they
had refused offers at top MBA programs in the United States because of visa
problems. One student said that she had been offered a full scholarship to
attend the University of Michigan's MBA program in 2002 but that a visa
request had been denied two years in a row. Another could not obtain a visa
to enroll at the University of California at Los Angeles.

"I decided not to apply for the visa again," she said. "I didn't want to
waste my money and time and to be insulted. It's a very bad feeling."

Even students who obtain visas to study in the United States are facing
difficulties obtaining authorization to stay and work after completing an
MBA. Sabu Samarnath, an Indian MBA student at Cranfield, for example, said
he was disappointed by the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration
at the University of Virginia because "I got the feeling that I was welcome,
yes, but they weren't confident they could get me work authorization to
secure my internship placement."

Without the summer internship, an integral aspect of two-year American
programs that typically leads to a full-time job offer, Samarnath said,
"there was no value in going there."

Concerns over employability also persuaded Juan Pablo Meijide, an Argentine,
to choose the London Business School over universities in the United States.
He said friends in U.S. programs had warned him that "if you don't have a
work permit, you can't even go to some of the recruiting presentations."

"I wanted to work abroad and my employability was an issue," Meijide said.
"In the States it would be much more difficult because of the changes in the
last few years."

To work in the United States, noncitizen students must either find an
employer to sponsor an H1 visa or obtain a Green Card to stay permanently.
In 2003, the U.S. government capped the number of H1 visas available at
65,000 a year, compared to 195,000 in previous years.

In the meantime, Britain has made it easier for business school graduates to
obtain work clearance. One way is the Highly Skilled Migrant Program, which
was introduced in 2002 and allows applicants to quantify their eligibility
by achieving 75 points on a scale that measures work experience, advanced
degrees (an MBA is worth 25 points), previous salary level (25 points if
over £40,000, or about $74,000, and specialist skills.

Many students are also being attracted by the affordability of international
programs, especially in relation to costs in the United States. Most MBA
programs outside the United States can be completed in one year rather than
two, representing a huge saving in both tuition and opportunity costs.

Armando Villasmil Jiminez, a Venezuelan student at Cranfield, said he sought
out a one-year program because "being without a salary for two years was too
much."

The cost of an MBA in Continental Europe or Britain, including living
expenses, is typically around $65,000. A U.S. degree can cost twice as much.
The Harvard Business School estimates its fees, including living expenses,
at $129,000 for two academic years. With two years of lost income, the total
expense can easily approach a quarter of a million dollars.

J. Moore, who is from Atlanta, said he had declined Harvard to attend
Cambridge mainly because "it made economic sense."

For Anglophones, British programs additionally have the language advantage.
Most British programs do not require students to become fluent in another
language to graduate, which appeals to applicants from North America,
Australia and New Zealand.

Prestige is also a powerful pull for applicants, and Britain has an edge
over other international programs in both rankings and brand value.

"Latin Americans are aware of maybe four business schools - Stanford,
Harvard, Wharton and LBS," Meijide, the Argentine, said, referring to the
London Business School.

According to the full-time global MBA rankings compiled by the Financial
Times, 18 of the top 35 European schools are in Britain.

"Going to Cambridge gives you credibility by association," said Dunlop, the
Harvard graduate.

But just when interest in British MBA programs is highest, it may be harder
than ever for U.S. candidates to gain admission. Schools are meticulous
about calibrating the mix of nationalities coming in each year.

"The percentage of Americans we have now is near the maximum we would ever
have, in the interest of preserving the international diversity of the
class," said George Yip, former dean and professor at the London Business
School, expressing a sentiment shared by officials at several other
programs.

At 23 percent of the total class, Americans now outnumber Britons at the
London Business School.

Better rankings also attract better students, who in turn improve the
rankings, a cycle that is poised to benefit British programs tremendously
within the next decade.

"The applications we received this year were on average much higher quality
than last year," said Simon Learmount, the admissions director at Cambridge,
adding that this trend would very likely continue.

Rachel Tufft, associate admissions director at the Manchester Business
School, agreed. "The increase in applications enables us to be more
selective," Tufft said. "Year to year, we're looking to increase the quality
of the student body, which in turn strengthens competition for the whole
program."

Johannah Ladd is a Harvard Law School graduate and writer living in
Cambridge, England.

Copyright © 2003 The International Herald Tribune