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The numbers speak for themselves. There are nearly 300,000 people enrolled in master of business administration programs in the United States every year. MBAs conferred annually exploded from 5,000 in 1960 to more than 100,000 in 2000, according to Quintcareers.com.

Enrollment declined in the 21st century despite the fact MBA enrollment traditionally correlates to weaker or weakening economic times. A recent BusinessWeek survey found enrollment at many top business schools fell an average of 30 percent the past six years. Rising tuition was a top factor, climbing nearly 55 percent the past six years.

Ensuring MBAs are accessible and relevant were among steps business schools took to reverse declining enrollment.

Setting a new course

Last year, the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire restructured its full-time MBA program from a two-year program to a rigorous, oneyear program. It also adjusted its part-time program to 23 months, about a year shorter than many other part-time programs.

Barry Shore, academic director of the MBA programs and professor of decision sciences at UNH, said the moves follow an emerging European model for shorter MBA programs. “There is a growing number of schools in the U.S. offering one-year programs,” he said.

Cost is the chief reason. A one-year program reduces cost and allows a higher return on investment. Shore also said young people don’t have two years to take out of their lives for an MBA. “People are willing to work harder for one year to get it out the way,” Shore said. After the changes, the Whittemore School ranked among U.S. News & World Report’s 2006 top 100 graduate business schools in the nation for the first time.

Degrees of change

MBAs were traditionally broadly focused on the basics – communications, accounting, finance. But, B-schools now benefit from specialization. Matt Sweitzer, 32, of Newmarket, is a part-time MBA student at the Whittemore School. The supply chain manager for Enterasys Networks, a computer networking equipment company, is two-thirds done with his degree. “One reason I chose UNH was that they have an MBA option of a concentration in supply-chain management,” Sweitzer said. “That’s hard to find.” Southern New Hampshire University, which has a campus at Pease International Tradeport, revised its MBA program a year ago. “In the past few years, students have been interested in specializing in MBAs,” said Richard Erskine, associate dean at the Graduate School of Business at SNHU, which has added a global element to its MBA program. “So much business is done on a global scale today.”

Erskine said SNHU also has a sizable international student base and has a recruiter who works throughout the world. “An American MBA is a highly desirable degree,” he said. The school’s MBA integrates global topics in classes and adds electives so students can graduate with a certificate in an area of specialization. “Now, students not only get a broad business degree, but also a specialization,” Erskine said. SNHU emphasized ease in learning. It has centers in Portsmouth, Manchester, Nashua and Salem, and deploys the Internet. SNHU’s program has 12-week terms and three-hour weekly classes.

“If you miss one class, you have missed a significant amount of material,” Erskine said. “Students whose work requires them to travel can take their laptop with them. Our online classes are asynchronous. You can log on and catch up with discussions and interact with faculty members almost as if you’re doing e-mail.”

The dollar decision

It is not cheap to add an MBA to your resume. A degree from one of the nation’s top B-schools, such as Harvard’s School of Business or the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, can set you back $80,000 or more. Total program cost at the Whittemore School is $12,500 for in-state students for 2007. An out-of-state student pays $23,000. Instate, part-time students pay $1,530 per course, while out-of-state part-timers pay $1,825 per course. Full-time MBA students can add costs due to the loss of earnings while in school. However, surveys show MBA degrees provide an immediate return on investment.

The typical MBA graduate in the class of 2004 made $56,499 before earning the degree and $77,147 after – a 35 percent increase, according to the Web site, mba.com. Average starting salary at a first job upon graduating from Dartmouth’s MBA program is $99,900, according to that school. Whittemore MBA graduates have an average starting salary of $61,653.

An MBA degree also provides a competitive edge. Len Rishkofski of Snowden Associates, an executive search firm in Portsmouth, said an MBA is much more valuable today than in the past, especially in the corporate world. Many corporations require an MBA on senior-level searches, he said.

Anyone interested in getting to the “C-Level” – CEO, CFO, COO – is required to have an MBA today, Snowden said. He added an MBA provides more experience than an undergraduate degree. “It broadens a person’s skill set and their knowledge,” he said. “When we’re coaching folks, we encourage them to get their MBA, because it adds more value when they are out looking for a job.”

Other associated costs

The commitment to earn an MBA can’t be measured in dollars alone. Sweitzer attends class two nights a week and does homework in between and on weekends. “All-nighters are not uncommon,” he said. “I actually have not cut my hours back at what is a demanding job because this is on my own time.”

Erskine said the majority of MBA students at SNHU are enrolled part-time. People who are working and those with families, he said. Along with shortening the time it takes to earn an MBA, it is important to have employers of part-time students back their educational efforts. SNHU and Fidelity Investments created a work-force development partnership that assists Fidelity in recruiting, particularly for its offices in Merrimack, and establishes support for Fidelity employees working on degrees. “We have (more than) 300 bachelor’s (degree) and MBA graduate students working with Fidelity,” Erskine said.

“They’ve been very supportive of their employees coming to us.”

Doors of opportunity

William Gauthier, 33, of Exeter, is director of training at CCA Global Partners, a privately held management and marketing company, with an office in Manchester. During his six years at CCA, Gauthier earned his MBA, graduating from Franklin Pierce College in May 2005.

Gauthier said the company was very supportive. “I was able to integrate my course work and the work I was doing on the job,” he said. “I spent many late nights doing homework and had to forgo some personal events, but for the most part I was able to manage my time between work and school.” Working and studying has its benefits. “During class, people would talk about how the material related to their careers,” he said. “Classes were realistic, relevant and timely.”

Gauthier and Sweitzer are examples of dividends to companies that support employee efforts to earn MBAs.

“I applied to positions after I got my MBA and received many interviews,” Gauthier said. “I ultimately stayed at my current employer because they recognized my efforts in obtaining an MBA and let me take a lead a few key initiatives in my department.”

Sweitzer credits Enterasys Networks for funding his education and supporting. “I’ve actually turned down opportunities with other firms because of the commitment my company has made to me,” Sweitzer said.