Based on GMAC's research from 2024, we have identified 10 key trends that shaped the graduate management education (GME) industry.

Artificial Intelligence? Employer’s demand for new skills? Flexibility in the classroom? Which trends in GME defined 2024, and how will they shape your decision-making in 2025?

At our recent Year in Review webinar, we counted down the top 10 business school trends from the past year. Check out which insights about skills, artificial intelligence (AI), candidate preferences, and international mobility topped the list.

1. Core business skills like problem-solving and strategy stand the test of time for candidates and employers alike.

Based on data from our GMAC Prospective Students Survey and Corporate Recruiters Survey, we know that both candidates and employers find problem-solving and strategy to be among the top skills they want students to develop in business school.

These skills have consistently ranked high for candidates over the past several years, and problem-solving and strategy also top employers’ list of skills that will be most important for GME graduates in the next five years.

2. GME candidates increasingly want to learn about AI, but employers can wait a bit longer for GME grads with AI capabilities.

Forty percent of candidates say that AI is essential to their ideal GME curricula, which increased significantly from 29 percent the year prior. Meanwhile, just 26 percent of global employers say that AI skills are important to current GME graduates entering their organizations—ranking second-to-last in a list of 22 skills provided in the Corporate Recruiters Survey.

But when we asked employers which skills will be most important in five years, AI jumped dramatically in importance, landing in the fourth spot on their list behind strategic thinking, problem-solving, and broader technology and IT skills.

3. Most business schools have integrated AI into their curricula but not their admissions processes.

Seventy-eight percent of business schools say they have integrated AI into their curricula in some way, such as how it relates to ethics, decision-making, business strategy, or practical application.  

However, 63 percent of business schools say they have not formalized AI in any admissions processes or policies, with another quarter or so reporting that their approach depends on factors like individual program or faculty rules, allowing use AI for inspiration rather than writing, or requiring citations when AI is used. 

4. Programs have found success with both top-down and bottom-up approaches to integrating AI into the classroom and administrative processes.

In GMAC’s AI in Business Education Spotlight Series, we conducted deep dives into how business schools have integrated AI into their work to highlight real, tactical approaches that other schools can learn from.  

Across projects, we found that some programs tried to conserve resources by choosing one AI project to pilot and scale, while others convened communities of practice to share learnings, experiment, and then scale successful projects.  

These programs also encountered common challenges, such as copyright and privacy concerns, integration with current technology, or resources in terms of money, time, and stakeholder buy-in—and many found similar solutions, too.  

5. GME candidates are increasingly interested in online and hybrid programs, while employers still have reservations.

According to GMAC’s data report about online and hybrid learning, candidate preference for hybrid learning is increasing. Of course, there is regional variation, and hybrid learning is most popular in Africa and North America and least popular in Central and South Asia.  

Notably, in-person learning is still far and away the most preferred modality among prospective students, though decreasing as hybrid formats gain traction. Preference for online learning has been stable over the past five years.

6. Candidates are making decisions about whether or not to apply to a business school based on its social impact and sustainable development priorities.

We were not surprised to see that two-thirds to three-quarters of candidates said topics like sustainability, equity and inclusion, and health and well-being are important to their academic experiences. But when we dug a bit deeper, we found that some candidates say they will not even consider a business school that does not prioritize these subjects.

Two-thirds of candidates who said sustainability is important to their academic experience also said they would not consider attending a school that does not prioritize the topic. More than half—57 percent—of equity-concerned candidates said they would not consider a school that does not prioritize equity and inclusion. And 41 percent of well-being-concerned candidates said they would not consider a school that does not prioritize health and well-being.

7. As the cost of running and attending business school increases, programs have increased the share of candidates receiving financial aid.

Cost is the most acute barrier to GME for candidates regardless of their geographic region, gender, generation, or other factors. Financial aid is also the method through which the average candidate plans to finance the largest share of their degree.  

In GMAC’s 2024 Application Trends Survey report, we found that schools are keeping up with these concerns by offering financial aid—particularly in the form of merit-based aid or fellowships—to larger shares of their incoming class. In 2024, for example, 35 percent of the average incoming class was set to receive merit-based aid or fellowships compared to 24 percent in 2016.

8. Eight mutually exclusive segments of candidates are motivated to pursue GME based on their unique personal contexts, professional goals, and information channels where they can be reached.

To identify the variation in prospective students’ core qualities and considerations, GMAC partnered with Hanover Research to conduct a survey of 10,000 respondents in 21 countries.  

Ultimately, the white paper Profiles of the Pipeline revealed eight well-defined, mutually exclusive segments of candidates with some degree of interest in GME: 

• Social Impact Champions want to contribute positively to society. 

• Aspiring Entrepreneurs want to own their own business. 

• Family-Focused Achievers want to support their family and make them proud. 

• Wealth Builders want to earn more money. 

• Career Advancers want career options and technical skills. 

• Career Agnostics want to figure out their ideal career. 

• Global Careerists want to study and work abroad. 

• Lifelong Learners want personal growth and development through digital means. 

9. International students told us they were neutral about whether the presidential election would impact their plans to study business in the United States.

Our research brief about the impact of the U.S. presidential election found that in the preceding months, prospective international students were even more neutral about the election’s effect on their study plans than in previous election cycles. Seventy-two percent of candidates said the election would not have an impact on their intention to study in the United States compared to 51 percent in the 2020 election cycle and 48 percent during the 2016 election.

Now that we know the outcome of the election, GMAC is continuing to track data about how former president Donald Trump’s return to the White House might affect international students’ plans to study GME in the United States.

10. The domestic pipeline of candidates drove application growth across the industry while international applications had more mixed results.

In a banner year for application growth—a 12 percent increase in total applications across the industry with 56 percent of programs reporting growth—programs found that their domestic pipelines were especially strong.  

By degree, MBA programs reported more applications from both domestic and international candidates. Meanwhile, domestic applications to business master’s programs also showed strong growth, though declines in international applications drove down total applications depending on the degree.  

Regionally, domestic applications increased in each market we examined except the United Kingdom, while international applications dropped in Canada and the United Kingdom.  

Want to learn more? Visit www.gmac.com/research to read GMAC’s latest market intelligence about prospective students’ preferences, employer perspectives, and business school experiences.