GMAC study: New MBAs confident about the economy

Yet people earning graduate business degrees in 2010 are more optimistic about the economy than their counterparts were last year, suggesting that people are confident that the skills and abilities they developed in business school will give them an edge in years to come, according to data from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC).

The percentage of job-seeking graduates from full-time two-year MBA programs who had an offer of employment prior to finishing school dropped to 40 percent in 2010 from 50 percent the previous year, according to the latest GMAC Graduate Management Education Graduate Survey.

Among part-time MBA students, 22 percent had a job offer before graduation, down from 38 percent in 2009. Less than a quarter of executive MBA (EMBA) graduates in the survey had a job offer before graduation, compared with 44 percent of EMBA graduates in last year’s survey.

An interactive graphic with data from the survey is available at gmac.mediaroom.com.