A testing company is attempting to implement a standardized exam for business graduate school students that would compare to the medical boards for doctors or the bar exam for lawyers.
The International Certification Institute plans to offer the new exam at sites around the country by April, hoping students will want to take the exam to impress future employers.
Only 26 percent of master of business administration students had received or accepted a job offer near graduation in 2002 - compared to 41 percent in 2001, according to a report by the Graduate Management Admissions Council. The 2002 report stated about 68 percent of MBA recruiters said the weak economy is affecting their recruiting strategies.
Rob Bunnell, a spokesman for the International Certification Institute, said with steeper competition for jobs, the test will be a good way to measure students from all programs around the nation equally. He said a beta version of the test will be given Nov. 1 through Dec. 21 so test-makers can analyze which questions should appear on the final test.
The test is an attempt to calculate a candidate’s understanding of concepts taught in MBA programs, he said.
“The concept has been in development for a long time now,” he said. “The goal of the exam is to benefit both MBA students and employers.”
Bunnell said he’s confident it eventually will become a test all MBA candidates will take to add to their résumés. “It will help students set themselves apart in a crowded field and help employers find the most accredited students,” he said.
But Robert Duncan, dean of business in Eli Broad College of Business, said he doubts the exam will be effective. He said he doesn’t think the test can measure what employers want in students.
“I think we’re always looking for ways to measure programs, but I’m not sure a multiple-choice exam is going to get that done,” he said. “It’s not clear what it measures, but there is always interest in developing a new test by smaller, less-known schools to get recognition for what they do.”
Second-year MBA student Andres Barragan said the test is a more complex issue and it will be a difficult to sell the idea, but thinks it might work in the future.
“Eventually it might be a good thing because it would standardize students in terms of attending different schools,” he said.
Barragan said there could be a political resistance because some highly-ranked schools might risk exposing lower scores. He said he would be interested in taking the exam, but wouldn’t push the score to employers.
“A lot of students think once they get into the school, they can party their way through the rest of the way and still get their diploma and get a good job because of the name of their school,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Brian Charlton can be reached at charlt10@msu.edu.
