State’s colleges adapt to the changing world of business education

By Bob Sanders. At a time of stagnating college enrollment nationwide, business schools and programs in New Hampshire are thriving and finding new ways to attract and teach students.
The 15 institutions granted a total of more than 4,000 business degrees in 2011 – the latest figures available – with more than 1,250 coming at the graduate level or above. Most report that they have grown since then, as they rush to adapt to globalization and technological change.
The schools are, for the most part, ramping up their efforts by investing in accreditation, online education and additional facilities and revamping their course offerings to cut costs. They’re also building connections with local businesses and reaching across borders, both to entice international students and internationalize their offerings.
The education being sought in college has come a long way in the last generation. In the early 1970s, more than a fifth of undergraduates earned a bachelor’s in education, while nearly another fifth went into social sciences and history. Business-related degrees accounted for 14 percent of the total. But in the 1980s that changed in a big way, and today 22 percent of all degrees are in business. Social sciences make up 10 percent of the total, and 6 percent are would-be teachers. Read more...