ON THE RISE

ON THE

RISE

By Anna Grisham

In spring 2020, the world turned upside down. We experienced a global pandemic and then one national crisis after another. Hardly anyone was prepared for the fallout that would ensue. Almost every industry was impacted. Higher education was no different. For a myriad of reasons, enrollments dwindled. Universities were forced to make furloughs, layoffs, reductions in force and some even closed their doors.

Fortunately, the University of Memphis stymied many of these unfortunate occurrences. Thanks to the keen insight of our University’s leadership team and unrelenting dedication of our faculty and staff, we pivoted quickly and were able to adjust to the changing times while remaining committed to the needs of our students. The Fogelman College of Business & Economics (FCBE) rose to the challenges. We worked tirelessly to make sure that our current students’ academic experiences remained undeterred. Moreover, we made major advancements in our recruitment methods and attracted new audiences to our programs.

As such, we continued to see a steady rise in FCBE’s enrollments despite unprecedented circumstances in, what can only be called, challenging times. From fall 2020 to fall 2021, we increased our overall enrollment from 3,511 to 3,554. More impressively, we were able to grow our international graduate population by approximately 82.5% from spring 2021 to spring 2022 with our MSIS and MBA programs welcoming the majority of these new students.

“Business is global. As such, we invite students from across the world to apply to our programs,” said Dr. Balaji Krishnan, vice provost for Global Initiatives. “Having students from different cultures interact on projects and assignments increases their emotional quotient and cultural IQ. These are critical success factors in today’s business environment.”

“FCBE attracts students because our high quality undergraduate and master’s programs are offered fully online, onground and priced competitively,” said Dr. Gregory W. Boller, FCBE interim dean. “Moreover, our programs have been highly ranked by U.S. News and World Report. In 2022, our online BBA program was ranked No. 30 and our online MBA program No. 42 nationally.”

At FCBE, we will continue to adopt new methods, add new faculty and incorporate new technologies to ensure that we accommodate our growing business school population. Our goal is to keep propelling upward — in enrollments, teaching quality and academic experiences.

“Business is global. As such, we invite students from across the world to apply to our programs.”