Queensland-based providers have dominated the Graduate Management Association of Australia’s (GMAA) latest assessment of MBA programs, with four of the eight courses awarded the top 5 Star Rating coming from the Sunshine State.
The 2013 GMAA 5 Star Assessment
is designed as an index of the quality of MBA programs provided in Australia to onshore students.
This year data was received from 47 programs offered through 31 institutions, of which 39 programs were ultimately included in the final results.
Courses awarded a 5 Star Rating in 2013 were:
- Deakin University
- Griffith University
- La Trobe University
- Queensland University of Technology
- University of Adelaide
- University of Queensland
- University of South Australia
- University of Southern Queensland.
Most of this year’s 5 Star schools are multiple winners with UniSA appearing in the top tier for the last six years. Since the Assessment began in 2003, Griffith University has appeared 10 times, UQ Business School has appeared nine times and QUT Business School has appeared eight times.
A comparison between the 2012 and 2013 results shows that the average MBA now costs $36,653 and requires a total time commitment of 1,786 hours. Despite the increasing use of technologies, the number of contact hours required to complete the average MBA course increased nearly 4% to 503 hours.
The assessment also identified a slight decrease in the average cost of an MBA. The average MBA now costs of $36,653, compared to $37,880 in 2012.
Of the eight 5 Star programs in 2013, six received 5 Stars in 2012, one moved up from 4 Stars, with the remaining program not included in the 2012 results.
GMAA National President Philip Leitch said MBA programs continued to adapt their offerings over the last 12 months to meet the changing demands of students and business.
“Luring the top talent is the number one priority for most MBA providers and the competition to secure those students ultimately benefits all students as the quality of programs improves across the board,” he said.
Mr Leitch said the MBA programs were also benefitting from greater demand for specialisation with the sector experiencing some its strong demand and enrolments since the GFC.
“Queensland-based providers have dominated the 5 Star category of this year’s assessment, primarily due to the fact they have adapted their programs to the needs of the resources industry and continue to forge new and expanded links with the business community,” he said.
The GMAA is the national association for graduates having post graduate management qualifications. The GMAA’s goal is to promote the standing and enhance the value of MBA, DBA and other postgraduate management qualifications.
The 5 Star Assessment program is designed to assist potential MBA students by providing an independent assessment of the various programs on offer by people who have been through the process.
The GMAA assessment is presented as a table split into five bands with the programs receiving the highest scores located in the top 5 Star band. Within each band, all programs are then listed alphabetically. The total score for each program is not released.
As a result of changes to the questions, scoring and weightings in this year’s assessment, it is not practical to compare the scores in 2013 with previous years as the changes saw nearly every program achieve a lower score in the current assessment.
