Which MBA Programs Attract the Most Women?

Does higher tuition mean a better business school?

From a Canadian business school nearly quadrupling its tuition to the top MBA programs with the most women—catch all the trending stories for future business leaders.

MBA programs with the most women

More women are enrolling in business school than at any time. This is partially because many business schools have made it a priority to recruit talented women. Many top MBA programs now say that over 40% of their first-year classes are made up of women. Although this figure still lags behind progress made with female representation in law school and medical school, it’s still progress. “It really gives those women the opportunity to either create clubs or reinforce the mission statement of clubs or expand clubs that have a focus on networking for women,” says one admissions expert. (U.S. News & World Report)

Meet the incoming class

There’s few college towns in the United States that are as storied as Gainesville, home to the University of Florida—one of America’s best state schools. Its business school, Warrington, is also one of the country’s most competitive MBA programs. The school focuses not just on helping students change their careers, but also transforming their lives. “The professional diversity of this class makes it one of the most unique in my 13 years leading this program,” explains Alex Sevilla, assistant dean and director of the University of Florida MBA program. “We’ve always been able to attract first-rate talent from the finance, marketing and operations fields, but the infusion of passionate professionals from engineering, medicine, media, consulting, non-profit, and the startup scene—as well as the U.S. military—creates a vibrant atmosphere that is exciting to be around.” (Poets & Quants)

Rising tuition, rising demand

In 2010, McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management did something extraordinary. It more than tripled the cost to attend its MBA program. The idea behind it was to make the program more self-sufficient and to rely less on money from the government of the province of Quebec. This year, the Montreal-based school will see a record number of applications, up 15% from last year. The director of the program says the increase in tuition has only raised the school’s cache, convincing people that more expensive means higher quality. “When tuition fees are so far different from other schools, the question is what is wrong,” he notes. (The Financial Times)

French business school recruits in Louisiana

Hundreds of years ago, one of France’s footholds in the New World was southern Louisiana—what’s popularly known as Cajun Country. This includes Baton Rouge and Lafayette. There are probably more people with French surnames in Lafayette, per capita, than in almost any other city in America. Given this history, it’s only appropriate that France’s La Rochelle School of Business has set up shop in the city of 100,000 to recruit students for its tourism school. La Rochelle is one of France’s most picturesque cities, located on the west coast. (The Advocate)

Name change

If you’re looking to have an institution of higher learning named after you, try one of these two things: 1) Be an alumna or alumnus of that school and do something amazing, or 2) give any business school whose mission you believe in a huge donation. Or, maybe try a mix of both. There’s a lot of that going around lately, as we’ve reported on this blog. Well, it’s happened again. This time the generous donation was $25M and the school benefiting is Butler University. Its business school will now be named Andre B. Lacy School of Business, in honor of its donors, Andre B. Lacy and his wife, Lucy. Mr. Lacy is a prominent Indianapolis business executive. “Butler has long been an excellent school and an anchor to the Indianapolis and central Indiana community,” said Lacy. (Indianapolis Business Journal)

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