Australia is slowly crawling into the position of a desirable MBA destination. The number of international students, has seen a steady rise from a 100,000, in 1994, to nearly 700,000, in 2018 (including higher education, vocational studies, school education and non-award degrees), according to the Department of Education and Training reports here and here compiled by the Aussie government.
While its international presence is getting prominent with each passing year, its impact on the Global MBA education market still needs some boost to become viral. And there are very clear advantages of recognizing the potential of an Australian MBA.
You don’t have to purchase a Rosetta Stone for learning their language. Just a few viewings of Hugh Jackman’s interviews will suffice to catch a drift of their accent. Australia is pretty friendly about arranging for scholarships for deserving international students. Some of these are provided by the government – Australia Awards, International Postgraduate Research Scholarship, and Australia APEC Women in Research Fellowship. Even MBA candidates can apply for scholarships awarded by individual universities.
Some of its top business schools have been consistently showing up in the top 100 Financial Times’ Global MBA Rankings. Other ranking bodies like the QS World Ranking in Business Management have also seen a climbing status for the top Australian B-Schools. It has been featured as the fourth highest payer after an MBA degree, with average salaries + bonus amounting to close to nearly $120,000, says QS TopMBA’s Jobs & Salary Trends Report.
With all the goodness spilling over, it is still struggling to rise above the glitter of the other well-known global top MBA brands. One reason could be that while the cost of an Australian MBA is somewhat lower than the more prominent American MBAs, its living expenses are quite high, reaching north of $500/week.
According to an HSBC report, it is 1.5x more expensive to live in Australia as compared to the US. Of course it doesn’t help that anything that moves, crawls, flies or swims, in the land down under, can kill you. But an Australian Student Visa allows you to work part time and sustain yourself, in the face of steep expenses, and perhaps even buy enough safeguards to survive the wildlife and not become Friday night dinner for a Wolf Spider.
So, with all the benefits overpowering the few faults, we thought it would be best to introduce you to the list of top MBA schools, in Australia. The list is based on the QS University Rankings for Business Management (Methodology). We have included the duration and the tuition (subject to change by the individual universities) in USD.
An MBA, from an Australian university, can be a rich intercultural experience along with an opportunity to train in a competitive world class environment. The information in this article should help to guide you through your global MBA destination search.
We advise you to investigate the official websites for the latest, and more accurate, numbers. For the more detailed inside information, you should reach out to past graduates and alumni.
Good Luck Mate!