November 2007 The Faculty, Staff and Student Newspaper of the University of Richmond

M.B.A. applications increase third straight year

Applications for admission to the University’s M.B.A. program rose for the third year in a row and significantly faster than the national rate.

Richmond’s M.B.A. applications jumped 28 percent, and average scores of enrolled students on the Graduate Management Admission Test increased 15 points—from 579 to 594—from 2004–07. Nationally, applications to part-time M.B.A. programs increased only 15 percent during the same period.

Richard Coughlan, associate dean for graduate and executive education at the Robins School of Business, attributed the increases to a higher volume of experienced business professionals turning to graduate education as a means of career advancement.

“We saw a dramatic increase this year among professionals with 10 or more years of industry experience,” Coughlan said.

Richmond’s new class of 48 M.B.A. students is 12 percent larger than last year’s and includes two people with doctoral degrees and three with master’s degrees in other fields.

The proportion of women in Richmond’s M.B.A. program has increased steadily over the past five years, from 30 percent to 44 percent. The national average is around 30 percent. Coughlan credits the involvement of successful female Richmond M.B.A. graduates, such as Lyn McDermid, chief information officer of Dominion, and Katie Gilstrap, senior vice president of marketing at First Market Bank, as role models who have helped build interest in the program. Twenty-two women and 26 men comprise this year’s entering class.

Joining current students from France, Italy and Spain in Richmond’s M.B.A. program are citizens of Bulgaria, China, Grenada and Ukraine.

Employees of the Richmond area’s largest firms are members of the new M.B.A. class. Banking and financial services industry professionals represent CapitalOne, Genworth, LandAmerica Financial and Wachovia Securities, as well as the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Manufacturing sector companies Alfa Laval, Honeywell, MeadWestvaco and Philip Morris USA also have managers enrolled.