Rising MBA tuition fees fail to damage demand
MBA学费越贵越吃香？
留学资料翻译公司：一所加拿大商学院的学费上涨了三倍，非但没有影响需求，反而出现申请学生数量、生源范围以及质量的提高。
Six years ago McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management took the unprecedented decision for a Canadian business school to raise its MBA fees to a level that would make the course self-funding.
6年前，麦吉尔大学(McGill University)德桑特尔斯管理学院(Desautels Faculty of Management)做出了一个对加拿大商学院而言空前的决定，把MBA学费提高到足以负担该课程所需经费的水平。留学资料翻译公司。
The rise, from C$22,000 in 2010 to C$79,500 by the time of the 2015 student intake, was a risky strategy for the Montreal-based university, which had previously relied on grants from the Quebec government to cover the MBA course costs. However, rather than undermine demand, the almost fourfold increase in fees has seen a rise in the number, global reach and quality of student applications.
到2015年招生时，该学院的MBA学费已从2010年的2.2万加元上涨至7.95万加元，对于这所设在蒙特利尔的大学而言，这是一项危险的策略。该校此前依赖魁北克省政府的资助来补贴MBA课程成本。然而，学费上涨近3倍非但没有影响需求，反而出现申请学生数量、生源范围以及质量的提高。
This year Desautels is on course for a record number of MBA applications, up 15 per cent on the previous 12 months, according to Don Melville, director of the MBA and masters programmes. Raising the price has raised the perception of the MBA’s value, he says.
据德桑特尔斯管理学院MBA和硕士课程主任丹•梅尔维尔(Don Melville)称，今年，报考德桑特尔斯管理学院MBA的申请者将达到创纪录水平，较一年前增长15%。他表示，涨学费提高了人们对MBA价值的认知。留学资料翻译公司。
“When tuition fees are so far different from other schools, the question is what is wrong,” Mr Melville notes.
梅尔维尔指出：“当学费与其他院校有很大差别时，问题是哪里出错了。”
Rising tuition fees are an issue, particularly in the US, where students now face paying back six figure sums for two-year MBA courses at top schools, even before other essentials such as books, health insurance and other living costs are factored in. The average fee in 2016 for the top 25 US schools is $118,468 (£81,000) — 81 per cent higher than in 2006, according to Financial Times rankings data.
学费不断上涨是一个问题，特别是在美国，美国学生现在面临一流学院两年制MBA课程的6位数学费，甚至还不包括书本、医疗保险和其他生活成本等其他必要费用。根据英国《金融时报》商学院排行榜数据，美国最优秀的25所商学院的2016年平均学费为11.8468万美元（合8.1万英镑），较2006年高出81%。
This inflation is a key reason why scholarships have become a prized method of attracting top talent, often being offered to more than half the MBA year group. While many wonder how much further top US institutions can raise fees, schools in other countries are managing to ramp up their fees by much greater percentages than their American peers, while increasing their popularity.
学费上涨是奖学金成为吸引优秀人才的重要方法的主要原因，在一届MBA学员中，往往会有超过一半获得奖学金。在很多人揣测美国商学院还能将学费上调到何种程度的同时，其他国家商学院的学费上涨幅度要远远超过美国商学院，与此同时还提高它们的知名度。留学资料翻译公司。
In Belgium, until caps were lifted recently, universities were barred by law from raising their fees significantly. As a result MBA courses have been relatively cheap, even compared with other European countries.
在比利时，在最近学费上限取消之前，法律禁止大学大幅提高学费。因此，该国的MBA课程相对廉价，甚至与其他欧洲国家相比也是如此。
Ghent-based Vlerick Business School charged €15,000 for its one-year MBA course in 2005. Barely a decade later the fee has risen to €37,000.
2005年，位于比利时根特的弗拉瑞克商学院(Vlerick Business School)一年期MBA课程收费1.5万欧元。10年后，学费涨到了3.7万欧元。
Tuition fee increases could be seen as a cost saving because they make it easier to sell the value of the course, according to Yolanda Habets, head of Vlerick’s full-time MBA. “With the current price we have to answer fewer questions of whether this is a good MBA or not because the cost makes people see a value in it,” she says. “Before, students were almost suspicious about what was being lost in a lower fee.”
弗拉瑞克商学院全日制MBA主管尤兰达•哈贝茨(Yolanda Habets)表示，提高学费可能被视为节省成本之举，因为这令学院更容易推介MBA课程的价值。“以当前的学费标准，人们很少问这是不是优秀MBA课程，因为学费让人们看到了它的价值，”她表示，“以前，学生们猜疑较低的学费让他们损失了什么。”留学资料翻译公司。
Vlerick needed to increase its fees to cover rising costs, Ms Habets says, noting that wages for top teaching talent, back-office support in the career services department and overseas study trips that have been added to the course have all significantly increased the bill for running the MBA.
哈贝茨表示，弗拉瑞克商学院需要提高学费以弥补成本上升。她指出，一流教师人才的薪资、职业服务部门的后台支持，以及加入教学大纲的海外学习旅行，都大大增加了MBA课程的运营成本。
Although the cap for degree costs in Belgium has now been lifted, Ms Habets does not expect tuition rates in European schools to reach the levels of US business schools. “What European countries share is a desire to keep education more affordable because it means that education is accessible,” she notes.
尽管比利时学位课程的学费上限现在已取消，但哈贝茨预计，欧洲商学院的学费不会达到美国商学院的水平。她指出：“欧洲国家的共同点是希望让教育变得更为平价，因为这意味着教育是可以获得的。”留学资料翻译公司。
A big cost advantage for European schools compared with those in the US, apart from annual tuition fees, is the provision of one-year rather than two-year MBA courses. The fee for Insead’s one-year programme, which took the top place in this year’s FT Global MBA ranking, is €71,000, which despite climbing by about 5 per cent annually for several years remains significantly lower than the two-year courses at the top US schools.
与美国商学院相比，欧洲商学院的巨大成本优势除了每年的学费以外，还在于提供一年制MBA课程，而不是两年制。领衔今年英国《金融时报》全球MBA排行榜的欧洲工商管理学院(Insead)一年制MBA课程的学费现在是7.1万欧元，尽管多年来每年上涨约5%，但仍远远低于美国一流商学院两年制课程的费用。
Keeping annual fees within the range of US peers is a factor for a school like Insead, according to Graham Hastie, its assistant dean of degree programmes. However, with a course that lasts only 10 months, even with annual fees as high as Stanford Graduate School of Business or MIT Sloan School of Management, Insead can boast a higher return than the schools with two-year study periods.
欧洲工商管理学院学位课程助理院长格雷厄姆•黑斯蒂(Graham Hastie)表示，对于欧洲工商管理学院这样的商学院，将年度学费保持在美国商学院的数量级是一个考虑因素。然而，该学院的课程时长仅为10个月，即使年度学费与斯坦福商学院(Stanford Graduate School of Business)或麻省理工斯隆管理学院(MIT Sloan School of Management)一样高，欧洲工商管理学院课程的回报率仍高于提供两年制课程的学校。留学资料翻译公司。
Peter Todd, who led the rise in tuition fees as dean at Desautels, was last year hired as dean of HEC Paris. The French school’s MBA tuition fees have also been rising, up €8,000 to €56,000 since January 2013.
去年，德桑特尔斯管理学院院长、当初带头提出涨学费的彼得•托德(Peter Todd)被聘为巴黎高等商学院(HEC Paris)院长。这所法国商学院的MBA学费近年也在上涨，自2013年1月以来已上涨8000欧元，至5.6万欧元。
However, the strengthening of the dollar against the euro has enabled Mr Todd to claim that his school’s fees are actually becoming less expensive compared with courses across the Atlantic.
然而，美元兑欧元汇率的上涨让托德可以宣称，巴黎高等商学院的学费实际上相对于美国商学院变得不那么昂贵了。
Applications from the US have increased, says Andrea Masini, HEC’s MBA head. But he claims this is a result of people liking the qualities of the school’s course, such as the diversity of the student population, rather than the fees becoming more attractive.
巴黎高等商学院MBA主管安德烈亚•马西尼(Andrea Masini)表示，来自美国的申请有所增加。但他声称，这是人们喜欢该学院课程质量（而不是因为学费变得更具吸引力）的结果，例如学员多样性。留学资料翻译公司。
Mr Masini also adds that increasing tuition fees is not a sufficient measure to increase the perceived value of an MBA.
马西尼还补充称，提高学费并非增强MBA在人们眼中价值的充分举措。
“If you raised the price of a Fiat to the price of a Ferrari it would not mean that the Fiat immediately becomes the same quality,” he says.
他表示：“如果你把一辆菲亚特(Fiat)汽车的价格提高到法拉利(Ferrari)的水平，这并不意味着菲亚特的质量马上就变得跟法拉利一样了。”
