Global business school applications fall 10%; Indian students increasingly turn to Europe, Asia: GMAC report

Global applications to graduate management education (GME) programmes declined 10% for the incoming class of 2026-27, following two consecutive years of growth, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council’s (GMAC) Application Trends Survey 2026.

The decline was not uniform across regions. While programmes in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada reported a fall in applications, those in Europe (excluding the UK) and Asia continued to see growth.

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Applications to global MBA programmes fell 13% in 2026, with nearly two-thirds of programmes reporting a decline. Non-MBA business master's programmes recorded a relatively smaller drop of 5%, despite roughly two-thirds of programmes reporting a dip in total applications.

The report noted that business master's programmes performed better than MBA programmes for the second consecutive year, partly because they continued to expand their domestic applicant pools.

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Indian students looking towards Europe and Asia

According to the report, there is a shift in the destinations preferred by Indian applicants, with Europe and Asia emerging as key regions for international business education.

Over half of the programmes in Europe reported India as their leading source of international talent, up from 41% in 2025. In East and Southeast Asia, 39% of programmes identified India as their top source of international talent. A third of programmes in the region also reported that applications from India had recorded the largest year-on-year increase compared with other countries.

In contrast, 41% of US programmes said they had experienced their largest decline in applications from Indian candidates.

The report said changes in visa policies and other immigration, education and work policies appear to be redirecting international applicants away from the US, Canada and the UK towards other regions.

Visa policies and domestic trends

The decline in applications was not limited to international candidates in these markets. More than half of US and Canadian programmes reported a fall in domestic applications, while more UK programmes reported declines than growth.

In the US, the report also pointed to a less favourable labour market and changes to federal student loan policies as factors affecting demand for graduate management education.

At the global level, domestic applications declined across regions except Europe (excluding the UK). International applications, meanwhile, grew in Europe (excluding the UK), India, and East and Southeast Asia.

Despite the changes in application volumes, the report found little meaningful movement in programmes' average selectivity, yield, class size or academic qualifications compared with the previous year. It described the results as a possible realignment in where and what candidates want to study.