Factors Leading to Growing Interest among MBA Aspirants at Bangladesh Open University: An Empirical Analysis

The Master of Business Administration (MBA) program has become a very popular program in Bangladesh because of its increasing demand in the corporate and other sectors. The present study utilised a descriptive research design, and the main data collection instrument was a semi-structured questionnaire. The sample, consisting of 325 respondents, was drawn from prospective students called for viva-voce—the final selection stage of the MBA program of Bangladesh Open University (BOU)—using a simple random sampling technique. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and factor analysis. The study discovered five critical factors leading to the growing interest seen among MBA aspirants at BOU, of which institutional reputation was marked as the first and most important leading factor, followed by the career development factor. Students’ self-development and the flexible open and distance learning system of BOU were the third and fourth leading factors, respectively. Another important factor that the students cited regarding their motivation to opt for admission into MBA program at BOU was their academic achievement.