The Associated Press

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The number of applicants for Indiana University's master of business administration program dropped by a third this year, but the quality of students accepted remains high, the program's director said.

The decline reflects a national trend of decreased interest in MBA degrees, said Terrill Cosgray of IU's Kelley School of Business.

"Actually, the quality of people applying to our program this year is as good as or better than we've ever had," he said. "We haven't had to compromise quality in order to fill our class."

IU-Bloomington had about 1,300 applicants this year for an entering class of about 200, Cosgray said. At the height of the MBA boom in 2001, the number of applicants reached 2,300.

Cosgray said the economy, population trends and global politics have all contributed to the decline.

He said a short-term weakening of the economy can drive up applications because students see an MBA as a way to give them an edge in a competitive job market. But as the slump continues, he said, would-be students hesitate to leave a paying job for an advanced business degree.

"Three or four years ago, it was not unusual for an MBA student to have three or four job offers before they graduated," he told The Herald-Times for a Friday story. "The past couple of years, students have felt fortunate to have a job offer before graduation."

Cosgray said the number of students applying from outside the United States fell more sharply than domestic applicants.

About 30 percent of the program's students come from abroad. In some years, as many as two-thirds of applicants have been from outside the country.

"People are telling us there's a reluctance to consider coming to the United States," he said. "They don't see the United States, given world politics at the moment, as being a friendly place or a place they would like to be."