The 2004 Budget announced a new provision for graduates of 50 top business schools to work in the UK for up to 12 months on completing their MBAs. This MBA provision is now part of the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP).

The HSMP is designed to attract highly skilled people to the UK to seek and take work. The MBA provision within this addresses the weakness in the UK economy in the quality of management by attracting highly qualified and talented managers to the UK. The Masters in Business Administration (MBA) remains one of the most recognised and respected management qualifications.

The Treasury published the list of the 50 eligible programmes with the pre-Budget report on 2 December 2004. The Treasury will review and re-publish this list annually.

The 50 eligible MBA programmes are determined by applying criteria which best reflect the potential economic productive contribution of graduates:

• Post-graduation Salaries, as the most effective measure of productivity
• Employment, essential if productive potential is to be realised.

The list of institutions contains 10 UK institutions and 40 from the rest of the world. The inclusion of a quota of 10 UK institutions reflects the fact that students choosing to study in the UK have already shown a commitment to this country and have begun to integrate in the UK, making it easier for them to continue their career here.