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The mad rush for Master of Business Administration, International MBA or even Executive MBA pro-grams is showing no signs of abating in Shanghai even though this year more such courses are available and at phenomenally high costs.
Just a month after Jiao Tong University - which got approval from the State Education Ministry in May to offer EMBA courses - began enrollment for next year's program, some 200 applicants have registered. There are only 120 seats available.
"MBA-related programs are becoming more and more popular because of the huge demand for graduates among local firms," said Wu Lipeng, deputy dean of Fudan University's School of Management.
Statistics show that in the first half of this year MBA graduates received at least two job offers after completing their course, with annual salaries reaching 80,000 yuan (US$9,640), the highest among all educational levels.
That may explain why the fees for MBA programs double or even triple the sum in the early 1990s when they were first launched in the city.
For instance, at China Europe International Business School, the MBA tuition fees jumped to 90,000 yuan this year from 20,000 yuan in 1994. Next year, the price will hit 125,000 yuan.
In Fudan, the cost for IMBAs - programs co-hosted by Fudan and overseas universities like U.S.-based Massachusetts Institute of Tech-nology and Hong Kong University - increased to 76,000 yuan this year from 66,000 yuan last year.
"I believe the returns in terms of payment and career development will be worth the costs," said Wu Weiming, an MBA applicant at CEIBS. Wu is not alone. This year 1,000 candidates are expected to apply at CEIBS for next year's pro-gram, nearly 400 more than 2001.
To cope with the increasing demand, CEIBS officials said they will expand the number of seats to 180 from 120 by 2004.
At Fudan, the applicant pool increased to 2,800 this year from 2,200 last year, but the MBA admission remains at 360.
The same applies to EMBA programs for company managers or higher-level government officials, although they opened for amazingly high fees.
Among the five local universities recently approved to provide EMBA programs, Fudan charges the highest 230,000 yuan, followed by Jiao Tong at 218,000 yuan. The others - Tongji University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and Shanghai Maritime University - charge an average of 200,000 yuan.
(eastday.com September 23, 2002)
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