The Global Future Forum links to an article from The Hindu Business Line on what the future holds in store for the MBA that is worth a read. Here's an excerpt ...

There have been two notable innovations in recent years towards broadbasing management education. The first is throwing open the portals of management institutions to older persons with prior business experience, and not exclusively to fresh graduates from colleges. The exposure of older participants from the corporate world to the conceptual framework and theoretical postulates of the academic courses has the effect of sending them back with a wider intellectual horizon, sharpened strategic vision and enhanced professional skills.

From the standpoint of business schools, the presence of students with a few years of hands-on experience in some business activity either as salaried managers or self-employed entrepreneurs actually contributes to an increased awareness of complexities of real life situations on the part of their faculty members who, otherwise, may tend to live in a land of fantasy.

The second is the emergence of open universities offering management courses both to fresh students and employed executives on sabbaticals. This experiment is still at the nascent stage, and the evidence gathered so far does not lead to any definitive conclusion one way or the other. Its merit lies in its flexibility and accessibility, both of which help in reaching out to aspirants of a much larger catchment area hailing from diverse economic, social and cultural milieus.

Also check out a few other stories at the Global Future Forum - the future of business education, and the MBA comparator.