Add a new name to the list of endangered SA species: the full-time MBA. As in the case of the wild dog, the riverine rabbit and Pickersgill’s reed frog, numbers are dwindling. And while full-time MBAs are unlikely to become extinct soon, sightings are a fraction of what they used to be, and may dwindle further in coming years.
Wits Business School dropped its full-time course at the end of 2019. Now the University of Stellenbosch Business School is following suit. MBA director Jako Volschenk confirms that this year’s programme will be the last; from 2021 students will have to follow a part-time distance degree.
The decision will leave only four schools offering full-time study: the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business (GSB), Pretoria University’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs), Rhodes Business School and Regenesys Business School.
Full-time students at Regenesys are limited to those from its Nigerian and Indian campuses. Most study in SA while on sabbatical from work and academic pursuits in their home countries.
At two years, it’s the longest full-time MBA in SA. The others range from 11 to 18 months.
Information supplied by the schools shows that of 87 Regenesys students who began their MBAs this year, 32 were full time. At Rhodes, only one of the new intake of 22 students took that option. Despite this, director Owen Skae says there are no plans to halt the programme. Full-and part-time students all follow the same curriculum and study pattern. The only difference is the intensity of the course.
At GSB, 51 of 176 new 2020 students were full time; at Gibs, 31 of 404. Stellenbosch recorded 15, from a total of 158.
Market research for this cover story shows that in 2011, full-time programmes accounted for 13% of the total SA MBA student body.
Since then, the share has fallen as low as 2%.
In 2020, it sits at 5%.
Volschenk says: "At Stellenbosch, we’ve been asking ourselves for some time whether it’s worth continuing. I don’t think the full-time MBA delivers. Students think it’s painful. They say their heads are constantly in their books and they have no time to breathe."
GSB and Gibs both plan to continue their programmes, particularly now that their immediate local rivals have pulled out.
But, like everyone else, they face additional challenges.
Because of Covid-19, full-time students in 2020 have been sent home to study. Some schools have begun to reopen campuses and lecture theatres for limited face-to-face interaction, but no-one knows yet what will happen in 2021.
The full-time MBA is supposed to be an immersive experience. It’s not just about study but also about relationships and experience. In some cases, students spend months living side by side with other students in school accommodation.
Segran Nair, head of GSB’s MBA programme, says: "On average, our full-time students are in their early 30s, so some will bring their partners and even children with them to Cape Town while they study."
That includes foreign students. SA MBA programmes enrol a lot of these, particularly from the rest of Africa. Given its location in a global tourism destination, GSB is also especially attractive to students from Europe and North America.
So will people give up a year of their lives for an experience that may not be what they hope for? Nair says there is a wait-and-see attitude among some full-time applicants. "Interest is there, but we’re not sure yet how much of it will turn into actual enrolments," he says.
Gibs, too, has no plans to give up its full-time MBA, says interim dean Morris Mthombeni. Rather, he says, the school, which prefers to call its offering an "intensive MBA", is "reimagining" the context and content to safeguard its future.
Louise Whittaker, head of the school’s MBA programmes, says applications so far are up to expectations.
Globally, the full-time MBA has lost market share in recent years. Many people no longer want to sacrifice a year of their lives and their salary for that period.
Full time may still be the logical choice for some self-employed people or those wanting a career change, but its advantages have been whittled away by the convenience and flexibility of online education.
Wits MBA programme director Renee Horne says: "A lot of academics and students say the full-time MBA has passed its sell-by date. A few more years and I think it may be gone."
Andrew Main Wilson, CEO of the London-based Association of MBAs, disagrees. While he admits there’s "no doubt the full-time MBA is in decline", there remain strong pockets of support in markets such as the US. Leading schools remain oversubscribed with good applicants.
"The full-time MBA will be with us for a long time to come," he says.
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