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Headlines they complete the program, down from 59 percent. While expectations have dropped, students enrolling in EMBA programs are still demon- strating a "100 percent vote of con- fidence" that they will develop skills and reap measurable benefits, says Michael Desiderio, executive direc- tor of the Executive MBA Council. International Emphasis Job Picture Brighter for EMBAs, MBAs Several organizations have conducted sur- veys that indicate 2010 will offer brighter job prospects to MBAs than 2009 did. The 2010 Corpo- rate Recruiters Survey is conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council in partnership with the European Foundation for Management Development and the MBA Career Services Council. Findings from this year's survey indicate that demand is greatest for graduates in healthcare, pharma- ceuticals, energy and utilities, and finance fields. At the same time, graduates themselves have expressed optimism about their job prospects. The class of 2010 students interviewed for GMAC's Graduate Survey were less likely to have jobs by graduation than their 2009 peers, but more hopeful about the economy in gen- 8 BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2010 eral. Respondents to both surveys expected 2010 salaries to be similar to 2009 salaries. More information about the GMAC surveys can be found at www.gmac.com/gmac/ newsandevents/. Students enrolling in EMBA programs also expressed confidence that the degree will help their careers, but they're less optimistic than before, finds the fourth annual Student Entry Benchmarking Sur- vey conducted by the Executive MBA Council, headquartered in Orange, California. The survey was administered to more than 2,000 students who enrolled in programs in 2009. In this year's survey, 64 per- cent of students say they expect their employers to give them new responsibilities, compared to 76 percent last year. Only 31 per- cent expect to be promoted while enrolled, down from 40 percent; 49 percent expect to be promoted after Increasing numbers of schools are adding programs or joining with universities around the world to create oppor- tunities for students or strengthen their international partnerships. n Five Midwestern U.S. schools have been chosen to participate in a new university linkage pro- gram sponsored by the U.S. State Department that provides techni- cal and educational support for undergraduate college students in Iraq. Each American school will pair with a different Iraqi univer- sity to develop the curriculum and enhance distance learning. The Iraq University Linkages Program at the Academy for Educational Development Center is funded by $1 million grants given to each school by the U.S. State Depart- ment; the money is to be spent over three years. The five schools are the Univer- sity of Cincinnati and Cleveland State University in Ohio; Ball State University in Muncie, Indi- ana; Oklahoma State University in Stillwater; and the University of Kentucky in Lexington. The U.S. institutions will be working with Iraqi schools to improve course curricula in disciplines such as business, education, computer sci- ence, engineering, and languages.