As business students become increasingly mobile and top business schools more international, elite institutions are turning to technology to tap the brightest global candidates.

Yet while a range of modern methods have been adopted to capture a globally mobile generation, business schools face stiff competition from new players in emerging markets and from online portals like edX and FutureLearn. “Higher education is saturated with MBA programs,” says Shari Hubert, director of MBA admissions at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business.

Driving the globalization of business education are seasoned managers and fresh graduates from emerging middle classes in developing economies. Led by China, Asian nations in particular face a shortage of top education institutions — pushing talent into the US and UK.

For prospective students this means more choice and the chance to profit from globally mixed peer groups.

Schools’ increasing effort to engage with candidates also provide opportunity to market oneself. “About half of what determines a candidate can only be determined by finding out their story, perspective, and values,” says Paul Lanzillotti, founder and principal of the admissions consultancy Amerasia Consulting Group.

The elite western schools like Harvard and London Business School are vying to attract a growing pool of applicants who want to study abroad. Mark Thomas, associate dean for international affairs at French business school Grenoble École de Management, says: “There is an increasing demand to gain some international experience.”

Around 2.5 million students globally are studying outside their home country, creating a sector worth $30 billion a year for the US, the UK, Canada and Australia, according to education consultancy the Parthenon Group.

The Graduate Management Admissions Council puts the figure for prospective business school applicants who want to study outside of their home country at 52%, up from 40% five years ago.  

Business schools are desperate to diversify their classes to improve quality of education.

Virginie Fougea, associate director of admissions for degree programs at INSEAD, says there is a focus on attracting a globally varied applicant pool at the business school.

“In today’s global arena the exchange of ideas and best practices by individuals and companies from around the world is clearly key,” she says.

At the business school IMD, based in Switzerland, 96% of the MBA cohort is considered international; at Oxford’s Saïd Business School in the UK the figure is 97%.

Western policy makers have made efforts to boost incoming numbers of foreign students. Despite domestic political concerns over immigration, Australia for example has loosened visa rules to draw students away from markets like the US and UK — which have complained of restrictive visa policy.

Professor John Shields, deputy dean at University of Sydney Business School, says programs have been strengthened because of changes to Australian student visa provisions over the past two years. “Visa turnaround times have been radically streamlined,” he says.

As business schools scramble to lure students who are willing to study abroad, tech is proving to be an invaluable tool in the race to capture talent. Disruptive technologies and demographic change have shaped major changes in how these institutions function.

Georgetown McDonough leverages an admissions blog and groups on social media networks Facebook and LinkedIn for relational purposes, says Shari. “We encourage our current students to use these platforms to share their experiences in business school with future generations.”

Her admissions team recently sat in on a presentation on the rise of the millennial — the demographic cohort born between the early 1980s and early 2000s.

The millennial generation dominates today’s applicant pool, according to figures from GMAC. This is a group business schools are eager to tap into and new strategies have been developed to do so.  

The Indian School of Business has increased spending on social and digital media from 10% of the school’s total media budget four years ago to about 50% last year.

“Millennials appreciate more interaction with current students and alumni,” says Pilar Vicente, director of admissions at IE Business School in Spain.

IE interacts with younger candidates through Instagram and Twitter and, in the admissions process, the business school lets applicants submit videos or presentations in addition to essays.

Harvard and Virginia’s Darden School of Business have previously announced plans to eliminate one admission essay, along with Babson College, Michigan Ross, Stanford GSB and Dartmouth Tuck.

Video is an increasingly popular tool. “We are using more video, social media [and] content creation,” says Roy Chason, assistant director at CEIBS. Both Rotman School of Management and the Sauder School of Business at UBC have introduced a video component. At Kellogg School applicants respond to two different admissions questions via videos recorded by webcam. Rutgers Business School uses YouTube and Youku, China’s largest video site.

Yet the real challenge for business schools will be to maintain popularity at a time when it is easy for aspiring leaders to access knowledge and skills from other outlets — free online providers represent the biggest threat. Others will prefer not to leave the workforce.  

Already a squeezed middle is emerging in which business schools at the top of MBA rankings and league tables enjoy stable application growth but those further down the pool are struggling to attract candidates.

Cristina Olabarría, director of admissions for ESADE Business School, says: “In a market where supply is highly fragmented and demand is global, rankings are very useful for schools and applicants alike.”

In this competitive environment candidates look for more differentiating factors among schools, says IE’s Pilar.

For many business schools, the focus is on careers. Some are opening international campuses in Asia and the Middle East to entice local students. ESSEC Business School of France recently opened a new 6,500 sqm campus in Singapore. Duke Fuqua, SKEMA Business School, and Nottingham and New York Universities have all invested in campuses in China.

Nearly all are using the internet to reach a wider audience. “We have started to explore massive open online courses,” says INSEAD’s Virginie, or Moocs. Most top business schools have used Moocs, including France’s HEC Paris, and Henley Business School and Cambridge Judge of the UK.

“It used to be that if it happened on the Internet it was considered second-rate. People don’t think that way anymore, so long as there’s a trusted brand behind the product,” says Professor Raj Echambadi, associate dean of outreach and engagement at the University of Illinois in the US.

Differentiation is key but for business schools today, and especially full-time MBA programs, maintaining a strong brand is more important than ever.

Maura Herson, MBA program director at MIT Sloan School of Management, says: “All MBA programs care about their brand. It determines the strength and influence of the network for alumni, as well as its ability to continue to attract top talent from around the world.”