Despite Stress and Burnout, Most Students Feel that Medical School Prepared Them Well for Board Exams and Residency

In Medscape’s 2022 Medical Student Lifestyle report, which included responses from over 2,000 medical students, many respondents reported experiencing burnout: 37 percent of students reported occasional burnout, while a full third of respondents (33 percent) reported frequent burnout, and 12 percent reported constant burnout. And while 37 percent said that they rarely or never experience doubt about becoming a doctor, many said they did experience doubt sometimes (44 percent), frequently (15 percent), or constantly (4 percent).

Despite many medical students experiencing stress and even doubt, most reported feeling that their medical schools prepared them for the future. The majority of students (64 percent) noted that they felt prepared or very prepared for the USMLE, with half favoring the move to a pass/fail format for the test. Just over two-thirds of students, 67 percent, reported satisfaction with the relationships they formed with their professors. And 59 percent reported feeling prepared or very prepared for residency, with that proportion increasing to 75 percent among fourth year respondents. 

Many students also reported that they found meaning during the pandemic. Over one-third of respondents, 39 percent, reported that Covid reinforced or strongly reinforced their drive to become a doctor. In terms of specialty selection, 24 percent noted that Covid slightly or somewhat influenced their specialty choice, and 12 percent said that Covid influenced or strongly influenced their selection of a specialty. The majority of students (54 percent) said that they felt satisfied or very satisfied with how their medical school handled Covid. 

National Bar Exam Results Remain Stable, but Early State-Level Reports Show Declining Pass Rates

An article published last week on Law.com proclaims that the early results for the July 2021 multi-state bar exam were “less drama-filled than the exam itself” with the national mean scaled score falling only slightly compared to 2019. The national mean score, 140.4, was released last Wednesday by The National Conference of Bar Examiners and showed a decrease of just 0.7 from the pre-pandemic July 2019 national mean of 141.1 (the last time a full national group took the test). This year’s mean was also generally on-par with 2020, when due to the ongoing pandemic, the test was administered on three different dates with reported mean scores of: 141.6, 142.7, and 137.2. And, the mean score fared better than in 2018 when the mean was 139.5. 

While all states administered a bar exam in July, due to the pandemic, 24 jurisdictions offered the test in-person and 29 offered it via full-length online exam. Online test-takers reported an experience riddled with technical difficulties. For some, the remote-testing software crashed and forced a computer restart costing them valuable time—ranging from a few minutes to an hour and a half—and causing significant added stress.  

And, despite the similar mean-score comparisons at the national-level, an article from Reuters suggests that the early state-level pass rates are emerging as “ominous” indicators. Just nine states have published results, but eight of them are reporting lower pass rates than in 2020. While the number of test-takers in each state has been relatively small, Iowa’s pass rate decreased by 12 percentage points this year (71 percent passed in July), New Mexico’s decreased by 18 percentage points (71 percent), and Nebraska’s decreased by 17 percentage points (72 percent). In North Carolina, the overall pass rate dropped from 83 percent in 2020 to 75 percent this year, despite the passing score being decreased by 2 percentage points in response to the online test’s technical problems. South Dakota, at this point, is the only state to increase its pass rate (+ 3 percentage points year-over-year) to 73 percent. 

Five out of the nine reporting states gave full, in-person exams both this year and last, and four out of five of them reported drops in pass-rates. This suggests that not all of the blame can be put upon the online test. University of Iowa law professor Derek Muller, speaking to Reuters, points to pandemic fatigue and learning loss related to law schools’ move to online and hybrid learning. “That’s showing in the results now. That’s just speculation, so I think we’re going to want to see more about it. But that’s something law schools should be looking really hard at,” he said. 

While the National Conference of Bar Examiners has already said that the bar exam will no longer be available in an online format and will return to in-person testing only, it will be interesting to see the pass results for other jurisdictions. Law schools may find it necessary to provide additional support to students.

As MBA Programs Begin to Discontinue Hybrid Learning, Virtual Recruiting Expected to Continue

Last month the Wall Street Journal announced that a number of prominent MBA programs will not offer hybrid learning this fall; the programs, including Columbia University, Stanford University, New York University, University of California-Berkeley, and Boston University will instead bring students to campus for in-person learning full-time. 

The decision is a nod to the importance of relationship-building within MBA programs, as well as an acknowledgment that recreating enriching networking opportunities online is almost impossible. Just last week, Jay Bhatti, a VC firm co-founder and Wharton School guest speaker, told Business Insider that, in a rapidly changing world, “The real thing that the MBA schools come down to is, hey, can I give relationships that are meaningful and for a lifetime?” Noting that major companies are relaxing degree requirements and the internet is democratizing access to knowledge, the MBA’s value predominantly stems from the relationships and networks that are cemented within their programs. J.P. Eggers, Vice Dean of MBA and Graduate Programs at NYU’s Stern School of Business, summed it up succinctly in the Wall Street Journal when he said, “Building new relationships online is hard.” 

Within hybrid programs, which many speculated would “emerge as a viable alternative to traditional two-year programs,” administrators speaking with the Wall Street Journal acknowledged the struggle that professors faced trying to meaningfully engage both online and in-person audiences. In fact, Eggers called blended learning models the “worst of both worlds” saying that, “Any time a faculty member is trying to split their attention between one set of students in-person and one online, it gets hard.” However, some schools, including Harvard Business School, plan to continue to offer online options for students who need them, such as international students who are not able to obtain the necessary visas. And other schools believe the technology used to support hybrid learning models can still be integrated for the benefit of students, for example, as a way to bring in guest speakers. 

Despite commitments from many schools to bring back the full MBA experience, this year will still bring a dearth of virtual company recruiting events. As many companies continue to grapple with restricted travel and how and when to bring employees back to the office, the companies have forewarned MBA programs that they will not be sending teams to campus. This, according to some, has been positive. “It actually made recruiting more accessible,” said Kristen Fitzpatrick, Harvard Business School’s Managing Director of Alumni and MBA Career and Professional Development, to Fortune Education. “By eliminating the cost and time required to travel for recruiting, it was easier for our partners to access our students,” she said. The use of online meetings for recruiting allowed companies to meet with a greater number of business schools than before. For example, while University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School usually hosts 140 companies on campus in the fall, 175 companies were able to host virtual events with students. 

While it is expected that some companies will continue to value the cost-savings and expanded reach of virtual events, Fitzpatrick did acknowledge the likelihood that some recruiters will eventually return to campus, “As the impact of the pandemic starts to lessen and we go back to some forms of travel, we do expect a few of our partners to return to campus when it is safe to do so.”

Student Loan Forgiveness Receives New Attention Under the Biden Administration

Debt is top of mind for graduate students. A Bloomberg Businessweek survey found that among 2018 graduates of prestigious MBA programs, almost half had borrowed at least $100,000 to finance the degree. The American Medical Association has long advocated for legislative action intended to ease the burden of debt on medical providers, and the American Bar Association released a report in 2020 detailing the negative impact of student debt on young lawyers’ mental health and calling for greater legislative advocacy on students’ behalf.

Late last week, when President Biden signed into law a covid relief package, he also removed a critical impediment to enacting broad-based student debt forgiveness. The bill contains a provision that allows any loan cancellation acquired between December 31, 2020 and January 1, 2026 to be excluded from taxable income. Previously, debt forgiveness (including Public Service Loan Forgiveness) was treated as additional income and taxed as such, with few exceptions. This update ensures that recipients of student debt relief are not left with large tax liabilities and are also not thrust into new tax brackets, with associated implications, due to debt cancellation.  

The counting of debt forgiveness dollars towards taxable income was a primary obstacle to broad student loan forgiveness programs. With the update now signed into law, Congressional Democrats led by Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer, as well as 17 state attorneys general and consumer rights advocates are calling on President Biden to take executive action to cancel $50,000 in federal student debt per borrower. Despite this pressure, the President does not support loan forgiveness at this amount for every borrower, which he directly expressed in a CNN Town Hall last month, as it would aid people who attended elite schools or obtained professional graduate degrees and have strong repayment prospects. The Biden Administration has noted that cancelling student loans above $10,000 should be dependent on the type of loan and current income of the recipient. The President does, however, support $10,000 in blanket, federal student loan forgiveness, and he has urged Congress to legislate this action. Legislative action, he argues, will make it harder to undo. Meanwhile, he has ordered a Department of Justice review to clarify if he has the authority to cancel student loan debt via executive action. This review will be done with the White House Domestic Policy Cancel, who will also consider the best way to target loan cancellation.

While the loan forgiveness policies under consideration would not directly benefit borrowers with private or commercially held student loans, those borrowers could still benefit from the tax relief provision included in the covid relief bill. Marketwatch notes that it may help borrowers benefit from current loan relief options provided by public or private lenders as a response to the pandemic.

In an interview on student debt with the AMA, Alex Macielak, who works in student-loan refinancing, urged students to pay attention to the political discourse, “There’s a new administration. Student-loan debt is a hot topic, ... There’s been talk about forgiving loans for some people. However, how much, who would be eligible, and other important details are still in doubt. So, monitor the legislation and debate, because student loans are consistently evolving.”

Business Schools Opting Out of Rankings Due to Pandemic

The Economist just published its latest MBA ranking, which Poets & Quants deemed, “the strangest list of the best business schools ever to be published.” European business schools IESE and HEC topped this year’s list, jumping up from their 2019 ranks of 10 and 3 respectively; however, 15 of the previously top 25 ranked schools declined to participate in this year’s ranking. In total, 49 out of the 165 schools invited to submit data either declined or were deemed ineligible and another 13 opted not to send the associated survey to their students or alumni. Among the 62 were some of the world’s most prestigious programs including Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, INSEAD, London Business School, CEIBS, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Duke.

The Economist’s resulting top ten, comprised of five U.S. and five European programs, included both expected and unexpected schools. The U.S. schools named in the top ten were Michigan Ross ranked third (up six spots from 2019), NYU Stern ranked fourth (+13), Georgia Tech Scheller ranked fifth (+18), University of Washington Foster ranked eighth (+12), and Carnegie Mellon Tepper ranked tenth (+22).  Most of the returning schools that opted into this year’s ranking saw significant positive momentum: 85 percent of schools that participated in 2019 and 2021 saw double-digit improvements in their rankings. Additionally, 41 of the top 50 (excluding two first-time participants) saw their rank increase by at least ten spots, and 24 of those improved by 20 spots or more.

The ranking, which was published despite GMAC’s request to the media to take a hiatus during the pandemic, comes during a tumultuous time for business schools worldwide. The logistical and economic effects of COVID-19 have impacted data typically included in ranking algorithms. Correspondingly, only 28 percent of business schools plan to participate in all MBA rankings this year according to Kaplan survey results published last week. The Kaplan survey, taken in October, asked admissions officers from 90 U.S. business schools, including 14 of the top 50 programs (ranked by U.S. News & World Report), about their plans to participate in rankings this academic year. While just 10 percent responded that they did not plan to participate in any MBA rankings, almost two-thirds (62 percent) said that they only planned to participate in some rankings.

Brian Carlidge, Vice President of Admissions at Kaplan, interpreted the results, saying that, “The majority of business schools have made their admissions processes more flexible, including making the GMAT or GRE optional, so many schools are lacking in test score data this year. Another major data point that goes into the rankings is job placement rate, and with the economy struggling as it is, it’s likely that it wasn’t as easy for Class of 2020 graduates to find employment as it was for Class of 2019 graduates. While many business schools are still reporting this data point for transparency, it’s also likely that others are reluctant to publicize it… With so much tumult, it’s hard to get a clear picture of where each business school lands. With so many top MBA programs not participating this year, it may make the rankings released in 2021 feel much less potent and relevant for aspiring business school students than in years past.”

Surge in Medical School Applications Attributed to the “Fauci Effect” and Virtual Interviews

In September we shared that applications to medical school had risen significantly compared to the same period last year, with both the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) reporting double-digit increases. Last week, MedPage Today confirmed that the upward trend in applications has held throughout the application season with AAMC applications, now closed, up 18 percent over the previous cycle and AACOM schools up 19 percent over the same period last year and up 7 percent over last year’s total with two months remaining in the admissions cycle.

The increase in application volume is significantly larger than recent annual increases (less than 6 percent), which suggests this year’s cycle will be more competitive. Geoffrey Young, PhD, AAMC's Senior Director of Student Affairs and Programs, estimated that just 18 percent of applicants will be accepted to AAMC schools this year. Young, along with Jayme Bograd, AACOM's Director of Application Services, Recruitment, and Student Affairs, via MedPage Today, also suggest that the large number of applicants could have an impact on future application cycles. Noting that this cycle included a similar percentage of re-applicants to previous years, both Young and Bograd agree that, if the rate holds, next year may also bring a larger number of applicants.

Medical school admissions officers have attributed this year’s application uptick to the “Fauci Effect.” Kristen Goodell, Associate Dean of Admissions at the Boston University School of Medicine, which reported a staggering 27 percent increase in applications, told NPR last month that "It may have a lot to do with the fact that people look at Anthony Fauci, look at the doctors in their community and say, 'You know, that is amazing. This is a way for me to make a difference.'"

Young, however, questions the “Fauci Effect,” pointing out that competitive medical school applicants typically spend years amassing a portfolio of educational and extracurricular experiences, rather than making an impulse decision to submit. And Bograd points out that the average age of applicants is the same this year (23.9) as it was last year, suggesting that it was not simply due to applicants opting out of a gap year. Rather, MedPage’s sources, including Young and Bograd, look to a variety of anecdotal factors that may have contributed to this year’s larger number of applicants. Both AAMC and AACOM schools use of virtual interviews significantly reduced the cost burden on applicants. Relatedly, not having to travel for interviews may have allowed applicants to apply to a wider range of schools. Additionally, osteopathic schools have increased program awareness efforts with AACOM, hosting more open houses than usual, virtually, and increasing scholarship funds. And a new DO school in Utah is accepting applications for its first class, while a few other schools have been able to expand their class sizes.

Medical Schools Called to Increase Diversity as Pandemic Highlights Racial Disparities in Healthcare

Glaring disparities in health outcomes by race, of those individuals diagnosed with COVID-19, have prompted providers and administrators to look at how structural racism has taken root within health education, training, and practice.

Late last month, The Atlantic published an article, Five Ways the Health-Care System Can Stop Amplifying Racism. While the article describes a complex system, including the inner-workings of hospitals, government, and insurance companies, it directly advocates for medical schools, and other provider training programs, to increase diversity in their student bodies and create a curriculum that addresses existing bias and racism, common in medical practice.

Medical schools have long sought to increase diversity, as diversity in providers means significant improvement in patient outcomes—A study out of Oakland, CA showed black doctors’ involvement with black patients increased preventive care and reduced the cardiovascular mortality gap between black and white men by 19 percent. Another study of black newborns in Florida showed that the newborns treated by black physicians had a mortality rate that was half that of babies cared for by non-black physicians.

But the number of minorities in medical school has remained low. A congressional report released last month by Democrats on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, reported that as of 2019, only 5.8 percent of physicians identified as Hispanic, 5 percent as Black or African American, 0.3 percent as American Indian or Alaskan Native, and 0.1 percent as Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. Further, among 2019 medical school graduates, 5.3 percent were Hispanic or Latino, 6.2 percent were Black, 0.2 percent were American Indian or Alaskan Native, and 0.1 percent were Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.

Why? Perhaps it is because there are barriers to medical education: substantial costs, the time and attention required to prep for and take the MCAT, apply to medical schools, travel to interviews, as well as a hostile learning environment. A report released early this year found that underrepresented minorities, including Hispanic, Black, and Native American students, were more likely to experience bullying or harassment during medical training than white students at 38 percent and 24 percent respectively.

Providing medical students with a curriculum that exposes bias and the roots of structural racism is vital. The Atlantic article points out that, “To this day, medical textbooks still depict mostly white skin tones. Many medical students hold empirically false beliefs about race-based physiological differences—including the notion that black patients have a higher tolerance for pain than white patients. These beliefs affect the kind of decisions that doctors make.” 

While people can change over time, schools must proactively work to diminish racism in future doctors. This summer, a team of professors at Yale Medical School published an article in the Journal of General Internal Medicine that proposed schools seek to filter out racist applicants and withhold admittance. While acknowledging the difficulty of evaluating racist attitudes, the professors suggest using additional essays, interview scenarios, and evaluative questionnaires to adequately provide admissions teams insight into where an applicant falls on a “continuum of racial attitudes.”

MBA Programs Turn to Virtual Learning this Semester

Stanford’s Graduate School of Business recently announced that it would start the autumn quarter online, as Santa Clara County is on California’s COVID watch list. School administrators say they will revisit their decision the week of September 21st. If the county is off the watch list for three consecutive days, indoor classes will be considered.

The announcement is the latest from an elite MBA program planning on a wholly virtual curriculum, rather than a hybrid model. Earlier in the month, University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business also announced that they would start the semester with all-virtual coursework.

MBA programs have been under scrutiny as administrators work through pandemic-related restrictions. With some MBA price tags as high as $200,000, including living expenses, many students are questioning if the virtual experience, without the in-person networking opportunities, is worth the price.

Prior to this month’s announcement, a group of Wharton MBA students petitioned the school for a discount due to their diminished experience.  The group’s petition, signed by 532 second-year students or just under 70 percent of the class, included results from a survey of second-year Wharton students. The survey responses from 572 students showed frustration and disappointment in the school’s response to the pandemic and a desire for more communication and collaboration in decision-making processes. Over three-fourths of respondents, 78 percent, were “not excited for the upcoming semester,” and 94 percent said that they felt the value of their MBA experience had been diminished by at least 40 percent. Just 14 percent of respondents felt that the school had incorporated student feedback into its decision-making process for the Fall 2020 semester. The school has responded that it will not discount the tuition this year.

Similarly, 270 MBA students at NYU’s Stern School of Business sent a letter to the administration, asking the school to decrease tuition rather than move forward with a planned 3.5 percent tuition increase. A Stern spokeswoman responded that the tuition will not be amended, but that it has increased MBA scholarships this year and is working to maximize its student experience. The school plans to provide a hybrid learning model.

Even Harvard Business School is feeling the effects. The school, which plans to provide students with a blended model including small-group work and in-person course elements as well as virtual learning, announced this summer that its matriculating class will be about 20 percent smaller than typical due to the number of accepted students who chose to defer their start date.

Rather than Grant Diploma Privilege, New York State Opts to Provide Remote Bar Exam

Late last week, the New York Court of Appeals announced that it would be offering an online bar exam in October, as a one-time, emergency option in lieu of an in-person exam. Earlier this month, the state cancelled the September in-person test due to coronavirus-related safety concerns, without communicating an alternative. Since then, law grads, state lawmakers, and all 15 NY law school deans have increasingly pressured the state to grant “diploma privilege,” which provides law school graduates licensure without having to sit for the bar exam. The proponents behind the push, which is also occurring in jurisdictions throughout the nation, argue that while an in-person test constitutes a health risk, delays in examinations and licensure can put financial pressure on graduates with student loans. At this point, just four states – Louisiana, Washington, Oregon, and Utah – have decided to grant diploma privilege.

The New York Court of Appeals established a court-appointed working group to consider the various licensure alternatives, including diploma privilege. The group, however, found the remote exam to provide the best alternative to the in-person exam, noting the role that exam-based licensure plays in promoting consumer confidence. In its announcement, the court made the point that the bar exam “provides critical assurance to the public that admitted attorneys meet minimum competency requirements, emphasizing New York’s immense candidate pool as well as the degree of variation in legal curricula across the country.” The working group did remark that the online test was the best option, but not without its shortcomings. To minimize those, the working group consulted with experts in security, technology, and psychometrics to “ensure broad access, mitigate security risks, and establish a reliable grading methodology.”

New York is among a growing number of jurisdictions, including California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Washington D.C., Vermont, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Texas, Arizona, Oregon, and Tennessee that have opted to provide the October online bar exam. The working group further recommended that New York look into offering reciprocity to other states and jurisdictions offering the online option, which would mean that the bar exam scores could be transferred to other jurisdictions for bar admittance. Six localities, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Washington D.C. have established reciprocity and New Hampshire, Vermont, Ohio, and Illinois have also expressed interest in pursuing reciprocity agreements.

GMAC Asks Media to Delay Publishing Business School Rankings

Last month the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), along with several other business education organizations, requested that MBA ranking organizations postpone publishing rankings amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The request, sent via letter to Bloomberg Businessweek, The Economist, Forbes, Financial Times, QS, and US News & World Report, asked for the delay on the grounds that business schools are working to meet the needs of their students and communities and need support rather than additional responsibilities during this period.

The letter also pointed out the pandemic’s likely effect on metrics, speculating that survey results from this period may do more to reveal current stress than a business school’s effectiveness, with graduating students, alumni, and companies who recruit MBA graduates all facing significant challenges of their own.

The request concluded with a call for dialogue between the ranking organizations and the business school community. GMAC hopes to work in partnership with business education industry groups (AACSB, EFMD, and MBA CSEA) and the ranking organizations to consider the short and long-term implications of COVID-19 on business school education, including student mobility restrictions, test center closures, corporations’ hiring plans, and the challenge ranking organizations face in updating metrics during this period that will accurately measure a business school’s effectiveness. For example, schools’ responses during the pandemic regarding their ability to innovate to meet the needs of their stakeholders may more accurately reflect their value to prospective students than previously relied upon metrics.

The response to the request has been mixed.

• Bloomberg Businessweek announced earlier this month that it would suspend its rankings. In addition to the request put forth by GMAC and schools, Bloomberg News Senior Editor Caleb Solomon added that it “felt inappropriate” to ask students, alumni, and recruiters to fill out a survey in an already overwhelming time. He also pointed out that the data collected would likely be overwhelmed by the pandemic and may not accurately show differences between schools.

• Forbes, which publishes a biennial ranking of business schools, ranked the programs in 2019 and is not due to have another ranking published until 2021.

• The Economist and QS have not published statements on their intentions to publish MBA rankings this year. Typically, The Economist and QS publish their Global FT MBA rankings in the fall.

• The Financial Times, which produces the most influential business school ranking in Europe and Asia, published its Global MBA 2020 ranking in January, and just last week published its 2020 Global Executive Education MBA Ranking. Despite the pandemic and global uncertainty, their latest ranking shows change at the top, but it mostly consists of a reshuffling of established front-runner schools.

• The most highly anticipated response, however, is from U.S. News and World Report, whose business school ranking garners the most attention within the U.S. Their Chief Data Strategist, Bob Morse, told Poets & Quants that, “the team at U.S. News continues to monitor the unprecedented disruptions caused by COVID-19 to business schools themselves, and their current and prospective students. As a result, we’re still reviewing our strategies for our upcoming Full-time and Part-time Best Business Schools rankings, as well as our fall 2020 data collection.”

While it remains to be seen how each ranking organization will move forward with compiling and publishing rankings, the GMAC letter provides valuable input for prospective business school students to keep in mind when reviewing available rankings and considering schools for the upcoming year.

• While most surveys combine more than one year of data, to smooth sudden changes, carefully consider if a school of interest has dropped or risen suddenly to determine what metrics may be driving the change. Are certain metrics likely affected by the pandemic and likely to rebound? Or do you think they accurately reflect the schools’ ability to meet the needs of its students?

• Look at each metric individually for a more complete view. Many of the ranking websites even allow you to sort schools based on the component metrics. You can then see how the schools rank based on what you are most interested in (quality of alumni network, starting salary, research opportunities, experience with faculty, etc.). This may also help you to understand what may be most affected by the lack of student mobility, testing cancellations, etc.

While the appeal of rankings is strong, we urge you to carefully consider how you can use them to find the best experience for you. Our advice has always been, and remains, to use them as only one component of your decision-making. During this period, more than ever, they should be a method to inform, but not drive your business school selection.

Admitted Students Hesitant to Start MBAs via Distance Learning

Poets & Quants published the results of a survey last week that showed prospective MBA students are feeling anxious over the uncertainty regarding when campuses will reopen. Among survey respondents, almost all—96 percent—said that missing out on the on-campus MBA experience is a “major concern.” Approximately one-third of the admitted students said that they will want to defer their start year if students are not invited back to campus in the fall, while fewer than one in five (17 percent) said they are okay with attending classes online. Just under half, 43 percent, believe that tuition and fees should be reduced if MBA programs cannot be conducted on campus, with a suggested tuition decrease averaging 37.5 percent.

With most business school deans reporting that they do not believe campuses will return to normal operations until September 1, 2020 or later, according to a recent survey that included 48 business school deans completed by Eduvantis, a higher-education consulting firm, there is talk that the current necessity of technology-based courses may forever impact the mode of business education delivery. The Eduvantis survey also asked deans to comment on how much their programs will “tilt towards distance learning” even after normal operations have resumed. While just 26 percent of respondents believe that their schools’ offerings will look “similar to what it was before,” a majority, almost three-fourths, say that they believe their schools will tilt more towards online learning to varying degrees. Additionally, there was notable consensus in response to an open-ended question asking deans what long-term institutional positives, if any, may stem from COVID-19 with 65 percent responding within the theme of “increased online teaching capabilities and comfortability.”

A recent Financial Times article described this period in business education as a time of innovation, and even as a tipping point for embedding technology more firmly into the foundation of the MBA experience by necessitating that even formerly resistant staff now provide online courses.  The article quotes Paul Almeida, dean of Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. “We do feel the students’ pain, the challenge they are facing, not just moving from face-to-face teaching to a virtual classroom but having to study from home and concerns about the future jobs market,” says Almeida. “But this crisis has planted seeds for innovation and transformation in the use of technology, about the potential for using our buildings differently so that people can study more flexibly and staff can telework.” He points out that distance learning can provide faculty researchers opportunities to work more collaboratively with other institutions or labs, “where we can unleash the power of working across universities.”

While this time of uncertainty is rife with questions, it seems that business school leadership and faculty are uniquely positioned to meet the challenges with optimism. Many programs have been building up online course offerings and integrating technology into course delivery for years. Prospective students, particularly those who are feeling anxious over the possibility of obtaining part of their degree online, may alleviate some of their anxiety by familiarizing themselves with their preferred schools’ existing online structure and offerings. While it is true that online substitutions will not provide the same experience as an in-person, on-campus MBA, schools are demonstrating that there is still ample opportunity for an excellent business education, and they are looking to find and integrate the best practices from this period into their standard operations.