The candidate considering graduate management education in 2026 looks different from the candidate of three years ago. They are less likely to be planning a career change, more likely to be hunting specific skills, and considering a wider geographic range of programmes than at any point in the recent history of the GMAC Prospective Students Survey. 

The 2026 edition, drawing on responses from 4,253 candidates across 145 countries, sketches a market in transition rather than decline. Application volumes grew seven percent in 2025 on top of twelve percent the year before. Demand for both MBA and business master’s degrees remains robust. What is shifting is how candidates evaluate their options, and where they are willing to look. 

Start with motivation. The share of candidates citing an industry or job function change as a reason to pursue graduate management education has fallen from 58 percent in 2022 to 42 percent in 2025, with the decline running across every age cohort. In its place, 72 percent now cite gaining business knowledge, up 10 points in three years. GMAC reads this as a move from career switching to targeted skill building. What candidates research reinforces the picture: return on investment and career outcomes top the list across degree types, while programme rankings are researched significantly less than two years ago. 

Geography is broadening. Among non-US citizens, preference for the United States as a study destination fell six points year on year to 28 percent, while Western Europe climbed to 45 percent. The pattern is sharper among Central and South Asian candidates, where the share planning to apply to US programmes fell from 72 percent in the first quarter of 2025 to 49 percent in the fourth. Application plans to East and Southeast Asian programmes doubled over the same period. GMAC attributes the US shift in part to candidate responses about current US government policies and practices, with non-US respondents increasingly reporting these factors made them less likely to pursue graduate management education in America. Yet the redirection is not a one-for-one swap. Candidates are widening shortlists, not substituting one country for another. 

AI, application behaviour, and specificity

AI has settled into the curriculum without displacing its core. Half of candidates now say AI tools belong in their ideal curriculum, up from 17 percent in 2022, and AI features in the top five curricular priorities for almost every degree type. Yet candidates do not rate AI among their top skills to develop, and employers surveyed separately by GMAC place it in the middle of their hiring criteria. Both groups still rank strategic thinking, problem-solving and communication top. The signal is that AI works as a tool wrapped around durable business skills, not a replacement for them. 

Application behaviour is uneven. Master of Finance candidates plan to submit 5.22 applications on average and full-time MBAs 5.01. Accounting candidates plan just 2.61. Women, first-generation candidates and US underrepresented candidates plan fewer applications than their counterparts and report lower willingness to pay. The median first-generation candidate is willing to spend $22,200 on their degree against $45,000 for non-first-generation peers. Cost remains the dominant barrier worldwide, cited by 46 percent of candidates and most acute among those more than two years from applying. 

The thread running through the data is specificity. Candidates earlier in the journey want to see how the degree fits into a recognisable life, financed in a recognisable way, leading to a recognisable job. Brand reputation still matters, but candidates increasingly want it backed with concrete evidence of outcomes, skills and pathways. As GMAC CEO Joy Jones notes, success in this environment will hinge on how effectively schools communicate measurable value and build trust with prospective students navigating an increasingly complex global landscape. 

Established hubs and emerging destinations face different versions of the same task: making the case, in detail, to candidates who have more options and sharper questions than before. 

For additional insights, application trends and announcements on the GMAC Prospective Students Survey or other trends, visit the conversation on GMAC.