Looks like Illinois is phasing out its full-time and part-time MBA program in favor of the iMBA. I wonder how this will impact admissions and rankings down the line. The iMBA doesn't require GMAT/GRE but significant work experience. Don't rankings in FT or Times require GMAT scores to be ranked?

https://wgntv.com/2019/05/24/university-of-illinois-to-end-on-campus-mba-classes/

The rankings don't require the GMAT. Could be that the iMBA is healthier for the school, and the on campus resources are better allocated elsewhere. Full time MBA market is really pressured in the Mid West.

[Edited by Duncan on May 27, 2019]

I think it's clear that the market for these in-class American MBA degrees - especially the full time ones - is contracting. How many schools have now stopped these MBAs? Tippie, Virginia - Tech, even Thunderbird...

I expect that we'll be seeing more of these announcements soon, especially because the political climate in the US is souring a lot of internationals on studying there, and fees from international students have been how many of these MBAs have sustained themselves (many of these full-time MBAs are still loss leaders, but these b-schools are figuring out how much loss they can actually take...)

Yes, the Illinois MBA not only declined from 600 students to around 100, but as a state university it lacked the scholarship funds to pull in extra talent. At the end of the day, many international students are either giving up on the US or focussing on STEM degrees with extra OPT.

One more thought, chatting to a former classmate who is on the Illinois iMBA, the course is growing so fast and creates such new challenges that it's important to focus on getting it right. Some elements work excellently, like the engagement in lectures, but group work is too challenging when people are in incompatible time zones.

Interesting that engagement works with lectures across time zones but group projects are more difficult.

Lectures are synchronous and group work isn't

This is one of these programs that was too expensive to maintain and didn't add much extra to the school's reputation (not ranked in the FT, etc.) We've already seen a few of these fall by the wayside but I expect there will be more to come.

Illinois was ranked, but my guess it is got too small to get enough responses: http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/university-of-illinois-at-urbana-champaign/global-mba-ranking-2017#global-mba-ranking-2017