Applications to Wharton down 12% over four years

What’s wrong with Wharton?, asks the Wall Street Journal, in a story last week that had staff and students at the prestigious University of Pennsylvania business school chirping.

“Applications to the University of Pennsylvania’s business school have declined 12% in the past four years, with the M.B.A. program receiving just 6,036 submissions for the class that started this fall. That was fewer than Stanford Graduate School of Business, with a class half Wharton’s size.”

Those numbers rallied responses from alumni and supporters about how Wharton’s focus has changed since the financial meltdown. Wall Street has an image problem, which has hurt Wharton’s standing, considering its historic focus on the financial sector.

As technology connections has blossomed at its peers, Wharton’s entrepreneurial, social impact and other efforts have apparently not yet resonated with a wider student classes — despite its success stories.

The good that can come out of the attention is the growth of Wharton’s programming outside of its roots as an engine for Wall Street titans. Wharton recently announced that it was producing three times as many entrepreneurs as it was five years ago and opened a summer incubator for Wharton entrepreneurs to boot.

Expect to see an evolving version of the country’s oldest business school, as it hopes to keep its footprint as among the world’s best.

[Wall Street Journal]