UK Visa Shift Creates Rare Chance For MBA Hopefuls Without Dependents

Almost half of U.K. business schools reported missing their targets for enrolment of international students. What’s bad news financially for the U.K. may be your biggest opportunity.

As of January 1, 2024, only students pursuing a doctorate or a research-based higher degree can apply to bring a spouse/partner and minor children to the U.K. This implies that students arriving to study for an MBA cannot bring their families.

The intention of the change in regulation was to limit the number of dependents arriving, which has exploded in recent years. An unintended effect, however, may be the exclusion of international students whose higher rate of tuition helps U.K. universities pay the bills.

The ICEF, which provides market intelligence on international student recruitment, reports a rather startling statistic:

“More than four in ten UK business schools say that they will miss their 2023/24 recruitment targets for non-EU students.”

The ICEF Monitor continues: “Most respondents to a recent survey say that the government’s decisions to limit visas for accompanying dependents as of January 2024 is a factor.”

How This May Affect Applicants

This has consequences not only for the schools, but for prospective applicants, large numbers of whom apply from China or India..

Adam Markus, graduate admissions guru and president of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants, had this to say in correspondence on WhatsApp: “The impact of the U.K.’s visa regulations has been very significant both positively and negatively for my clients, who are primarily coming from India and Japan.”

Markus’ reasons, however, are different from what might be expected.

“In prior years,” wrote Markus, “many Japanese clients who were company-sponsored for their MBA applied to and attended London Business School, but now this number is down significantly, as this segment includes many who are married, often with children, and look at the MBA experience as a family experience.”

Company-sponsored applicants are attractive to MBA programs. They bring their own funding, and so, far from drawing on the program’s financial aid, they contribute to the coffers of the school. And because they are already employed, the program does not need to be concerned about finding jobs for them. In short, they are being locked out, although they are not the perceived problem.

“Such applicants now focus either exclusively on U.S. schools or may look at other longer programs in Europe,” said Markus, “especially IESE and HEC. In general, for international applicants with families, INSEAD is also going to be a big winner here, because it is LBS’s primary non-U.S. rival in the minds of most applicants who are fine with a 10-12 months program.”

Some speculate that the country to which Indians might turn is Canada, which was the number-one destination for Indians studying abroad, until a recent diplomatic rift between the two countries slowed the flow of Indian students to Canada. But although the situation may change, the visa bottleneck is a serious issue, especially for students hoping to begin in early 2024.

Two Views From India

Together with China, India is widely held to be the country that will be most disadvantaged by the ban on visas for dependents. However, two experts in the Indian market disagree with the characterization of the family status of applicants from the subcontinent. Indians aiming at top MBA programs are not the ones contributing to the perceived glut of visa-seeking dependents.

Prashant Tibrewal is the Co-Founder of Admit Square Consulting in Bangalore, which specifically serves Indian applicants to top MBA programs worldwide. His grasp of the Indian MBA market can also be seen in that he is also the Founder of ISBmantra, a consultancy that has seen over a thousand of its clients accepted at the highly sought-after Indian School of Business.

“The kind of clients I get for the regular MBA, are those with 4-6 years of experience, Indian, and very rarely married,” wrote Tibrewal to me on LinkedIn. “Indians who are aiming at a good MBA and building a strong career, typically get married only after 27-28. Very rarely would you find an Indian who plans for an MBA, but gets married before the MBA.”

This point is confirmed by Sameer Kamat, founder of MBA Crystal Ball in Mumbai, in email correspondence. “Among our clients,” he said, “the majority are single and not affected by the change. However, the married ones who had planned to take their families along are disappointed. Some change their plans and decide to explore business schools in their home country.”

Kamat recalls his own experience: “As an older, married MBA applicant, I chose the U.K. over other countries as it was not just mature-student friendly, but also family-friendly. The gruelling Cambridge MBA experience remains etched in memory thanks to the moral and emotional support I got from my wife and daughter.”

Kamat hopes for a more nuanced solution. “Instead of forcing strong applicants to choose between education and family,” he said, “I hope the U.K. reconsiders the decision and looks at less punitive alternatives to attract international talent, while ensuring that the visa process isn’t abused.”

Possible Effects On U.K. Business Schools

“For the top MBA programs,” writes Tibrewal, “I don’t see any major changes, but the universities beyond the top 10 are more likely to get impacted.”

Markus is less sanguine. “While it is too early to tell, I suspect that the rate of admission for Indian applicants at LBS is going to go way up, but competition will increase somewhat at INSEAD. The U.K.’s decision has clearly had a profoundly negative impact on U.K. business schools, as indicated in the ICEF Monitor’s recent report.”

Looking ahead, Markus said, “Maybe there will be some subsequent policy correction from the U.K. government, but otherwise, with the exception of creating hybrid programs or joint programs with non-U.K. schools, I don’t see how U.K. b-schools can do much other than focus on admitting younger candidates who lack dependents.”

The Opportunity for Applicants

The most highly selective U.K. business schools, such as LBS, will continue to have large absolute numbers of applicants among whom to choose. It will be interesting to see how shifts in subsets of international applicants will affect intake, financing and programming, especially at less selective schools.

However, if your goal is to gain admission as a single international student, this is an excellent moment to apply to business school in the U.K.