It’s never been easier to rack up alumni status

 It’s never been easier to rack up alumni status

Rick Friedman/Getty Images

On Tuesdays, the Brew’s Matty Merritt brings you the news you need to make life a little easier during your 9-5, 5-9, or OOO. You could spend years studying for the GRE and going the traditional grad school route to have the privilege of dropping “when I was at Wharton.” But nowadays, there’s another option: You could just power through the school’s five-week Advanced Management Program. Amid declining enrollment, cash-strapped schools are courting shorter term students through their executive education programs, according to Bloomberg: These program are cheaper and less time-consuming for older, working students, but are also a rapidly growing source of income for universities. Last year, Harvard University brought in $612 million from its program, a huge jump from $155 million 20 years ago. Popular short-term courses cover everything from AI to how to be a founder. Hampton University in Virginia even rolled out a program this year to help professional athletes transition into commercial real estate.