Institutions offering MBA programs in Canada have witnessed a surge in applications as international students look beyond the United States for their MBA. Asian and Latin-American students have shown a preference for alternatives. 50% of those surveyed stated Canada as their choice, up from 38% last year.
“We’re seeing candidates who would have historically checked out Ivy League colleges within the U.S. up to now,” mentioned Teresa Pires, Affiliate Director of recruitment and admissions for the MBA program of Queen’s University’s Smith School of Business in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. “As a result of it could be tougher to remain within the U.S., securing everlasting residency, job safety, they only really feel prefer it’s a safer guess right here.”
Reports suggests U.S.-based MBA programmes had already witnessed a 14% drop in foreign students before the pandemic. Some of the factors like high cost of tuition and changing immigration policies together caused this depreciation. Now, many aspirants have deferred their MBA admissions by a year rather than attend classes completely or partially online due to the pandemic. Students favour Canada for its guaranteed work permit that allows them to work for any Canadian employer, as against the highly restrictive work permits of the U.S.
Joseph Milner, Vice Dean of MBA packages on the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, mentioned its home functions elevated this 12 months, partly due to Canadian college students’ willingness to remain nearer to home. He additionally mentioned abroad functions for its 2021 admissions cycle have been surging as many potential college students favour the nation’s assured work allow in contrast with the U.S. scholar visa system. They allow permits worldwide graduates to work for any Canadian employer with out the requirement of a job provide on the time of making use of.
“During the last three to four years, U.S. immigration coverage has made Canada a spot individuals need to come,” Mr. Milner mentioned.
Source: Wall Street Journal