The degree—teaching pupils how to develop core management and leadership skills—has become one of the most popular “pre-experience” (requiring no work experience) master’s pathways. It is second only to a master’s in accounting, which saw a 71% increase last year.
These pre-experience degrees are surging in popularity around the world, and some countries are accepting a larger percentage of young hopefuls.
While the master’s in management programs are somewhat selective, applicants have a stronger chance of getting their foot in the door than for an MBA, which has a starkly lower acceptance rate. U.S. schools with full-time, two-year MBA degrees reported a median acceptance rate of 35% in 2024.
And lucky for newly graduated Gen Zers, they don’t need to have a résumé chock-full of business internships to make the cut.
Application requirements vary depending on the schools and their competitiveness, but typically candidates only need a bachelor’s degree and a decent GPA to qualify.
Interested applicants don’t always need to have business courses under their belt, either; schools are willing to take applicants with science, engineering, humanities, and social sciences backgrounds. In some cases, universities require that candidates have a competitive score on higher-education standardized tests such as the GMAT or GRE.
“AI can do that quite well, and I’ve heard many managers say things like: ‘We can reduce our entry-level headcount.’ … The biggest disruption is likely among these low-level employees, particularly where work is predictable, tech-savvy, or more general.”
