The Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) will wind down its MBA degree in Hong Kong after 17 years after increasing competition from local Asian providers and big American universities contributed to falling numbers of enrolments.
The Australian Financial Review reported the school will assist all current students to complete their degrees.
An email to AGSM staff last week said the falling student numbers were impacting students’ learning experience.
“Due to recent declining numbers, and based on feedback from students, instructors and colleagues around AGSM, it is very challenging for these important learning exchanges to occur in very small classes,” the email, obtained by the AFR, said.
Top US schools such as Chicago Booth and the Kellogg School of Management offer MBAs in Hong Kong, and the standard of local business schools is very high.
Although the AGSM is 75th in the world in the Financial Times 2015 MBA ranking, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Business School MBA is 14th, the University of Hong Kong MBA is 28th, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong Business School MBA is 30th.
AGSM will continue teaching the MBA in Hong Kong until the end of 2017, to allow current students time to complete. If they study part-time and have not finished by then, AGSM will develop alternative arrangements.
Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM), which also offers an MBA in Hong Kong, will continue to offer its course despite also experiencing falling enrolments.
