Applications to Executive MBA programmes - MBAs for working managers - have increased in the past year in spite of the recession, according to a survey of its members by the US-based Executive MBA Council. Class sizes have remained relatively stable, according to the 309 participating programmes.

Although full-time MBAs have traditionally been seen as anti-cyclical - that is, applications go up in a recession - EMBAs have been more closely linked in the past with executive short courses, as there is often corporate sponsorship for students. EMBA applications have traditionally decreased when money is tight.