After a scheduled review of the five-year-old practice of admitting both September and January cohorts of each MBA class, the School has decided to admit all new MBA candidates in a single September entry date, beginning with students entering the Class of 2003. In announcing the change, senior associate dean and MBA Program chair W. Carl Kester noted that while the two-cohort system had met its educational objectives and contributed numerous innovations, a special faculty and administrative staff steering committee found that the disadvantages and costs of the approach outweighed its likely future benefits.

"Students' evaluations of their educational experience in the January cohort and their prospects in the job market have been consistently on par with those of students in the September cohort," Kester said. "The system achieved the goals we set of providing students with an outstanding educational experience, stimulating innovation and change in the MBA Program, and providing valuable experience and learning about program delivery."

While the decision to discontinue the cohort system was based on a number of factors, the preference of the applicant pool was one of the most persuasive. "Applicants to the MBA Program have continued to have an overwhelming preference for September admission," Kester explained. In addition, he noted that the review identified significant disadvantages associated with the system. Among these were the compression of the class calendar to accommodate two required curriculum offerings per year and the exceptional demands the system put on faculty and MBA Program staff.

Kester emphasized that despite the decision, the January cohort had brought many lasting benefits to the MBA Program. "Innovation in the required curriculum has flourished since the initiation of the system," he stated. "There have been scores of changes, experiments, and refinements that have made the first year of the MBA Program better and stronger, and we remain dedicated to delivering an extraordinary educational experience for students in both cohorts in the Classes of 2001 and 2002."

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