The CSEA has announced standards updates for their Full-Time MBA, Part-Time MBA, and Specialty Masters Reports for the Class of 2026. This article summarizes each major change, explains CSEA’s reasoning behind the change, and outlines what updates you can expect to see on your 12twenty platform to ensure you are compliant with the new standards.
The updated standards, provided by the CSEA, can be found here:
1. Online and Hybrid Full-Time Programs
Reports Affected: Full-Time MBA, Specialty Masters
Change: Clarifying language was added to indicate that schools should use their discretion for how to report students based on the nature of their individual program.
MBA CSEA Rationale: With so many variations in programs, it’s difficult to establish a shared definition. Schools can determine which Standards to use (Full-Time or Part-Time) based on the nature of the program (working professionals, full course load, number of online courses, etc.).
12twenty Update: On 12twenty, each Program is mapped to a PROGRAM TYPE (Full Time MBA, Part Time MBA, or Specialty Masters) as well as a PROGRAM DELIVERY TYPE (In Person, Online, or Hybrid). Once you have closed out your Class of 2025 reporting, you may request a Program Type update for any program you wish to recategorize. To update the Delivery Type of a program, navigate to your Education attribute picklists, and select Edit on the program you would like to update. We recommend waiting until you have closed out your Class of 2025 reporting before making or requesting any changes for your Class of 2026 reporting.
2. Scope of Specialty Masters Standards
Reports Affected: Specialty Masters
Change: Changed the title from: "Standards for Reporting Specialty Masters Employment Statistics" to: "Standards for Reporting Fulltime Specialty Masters Employment Statistics". Part-time Specialty Masters Programs will use the Part-time MBA Standards.
MBA CSEA Rationale: Part-time Specialty Masters programs more closely mimic part-time MBA programs with regards to employment profiles.
12twenty Update: On 12twenty, each Program is mapped to a PROGRAM TYPE (Full Time MBA, Part Time MBA, or Specialty Masters). Once you have closed out your Class of 2025 reporting, you may request a Program Type update for any program you wish to recategorize.
3. Scope of Part-Time MBA Standards
Reports Affected: Part-time MBA, Specialty Masters
Change: Changed the title and language of the Part-Time MBA Standards to include Part-Time Specialty Masters programs.
MBA CSEA Rationale: Part-time Specialty Masters programs more closely mimic part-time MBA programs with regards to employment profiles.
12twenty Update: On 12twenty, each Program is mapped to a PROGRAM TYPE (Full Time MBA, Part Time MBA, or Specialty Masters). Once you have closed out your Class of 2025 reporting, you may request a Program Type update for any program you wish to recategorize.
4. Purpose of Part-Time MBA Standards
Reports Affected: Part-Time MBA
Change: Table 3 (source of job) is now optional. “Employment Profile” was changed to “Graduating Class Profile” in the title of the Standards.
MBA CSEA Rationale: Schools expressed concern with being asked for employment outcomes for PART-TIME MBA programs. These changes are an effort to clarify the nature of the programs, the purpose of the Standards, and to minimize those requests.
12twenty Update: 12twenty recognizes that the Part Time MBA CSEA Report's Table 3, "Primary Source of Current/Accepted Position," is now optional, but will continue to support it.
5. Program Definitions – Full-Time vs. Part-Time & Clarifications
Reports Affected: All
Change: All Standards: Language was added to all Standards to clarify that reporting should be done at the program level, not at the student level. In other words, schools will use the same set of Standards for all students in each particular program. - All Standards: Clarification was also added to indicate that the definition of Full vs. Part-time programs is up to the school’s discretion. Examples were added to assist schools who have difficulty with the definition. - Part-time MBA Standards: The definition of part-time vs. full-time programs edited to be consistent with the other Standards. - Part-time MBA Standards: Breakdowns by modality (in-person, hybrid, online) were removed from the tables. Schools can choose to create separate reports or separate tables by modality if desired. Schools are asked to add text to their employment report to indicate the percent of students who fit into each modality within each program
MBA CSEA Rationale: Language was added to clarify frequently asked questions and provide schools with flexibility, given the vastly different types of programs that are continuously evolving. Modalities were removed from the tables for ease of data collection and reporting.
12twenty Update: The Part Time MBA CSEA Report Tables 1, 3 & 4 have a "modality" (in person, online, hybrid) breakdown -- these breakdowns will be removed once all schools have closed out their Class of 2025 Reporting (early 2026).
6. Definition of Graduating Class
Reports Affected: All
Change: Schools can now vary their graduation year by one month before or after the definition in the Standards, as long as they use the same definition every year and include a footnote about why it’s different.
MBA CSEA Rationale: Some European schools have summer graduations which causes graduating classes to be split among class years using the current definition in the Standards. In Asia, graduation dates can fluctuate based on the Lunar New Year, causing the graduating classes to be vastly different from year to year. This change allows schools to keep their graduating classes more intact which makes reporting easier and more consistent, while still maintaining a large degree of consistency across all schools
12twenty Update: No change, as graduation dates are managed by school administrators via the Graduation Dates site settings page, along with ensuring students are assigned to the correct graduation year/term.
7. Program Length
Reports Affected: Full-time MBA, Specialty Masters
Change: Language was added to clarify that all students should be accounted for in employment reports, regardless of the length of the program.
MBA CSEA Rationale: Many schools have varying program lengths, resulting in some requests to allow for separate Standards reports by program length. It was determined it would be too difficult to quantify program lengths for comparable reports, given the significant variety. It would also increase the data collection burden on schools.
12twenty Update: No change; all students assigned to a program and grad year are included in the corresponding MBA CSEA Standard Report.
8. Remote Work
Reports Affected: All
Change: The geographic location for students working remote will be the student’s home office, or where they would go if they had to go into work. If a company is 100% virtual, the location where the student conducts a majority of their work will be used as the location. The frequency of when the student goes into the office isn’t a factor.
MBA CSEA Rationale: Remote work is more of a workplace trend vs. an employment outcome. The clarifications are being made to help schools determine where to include a student’s salary in the geographic tables. With so many varying compensation structures being used by companies, this seems to be most common classification.
12twenty Update: 12twenty will update the help text displayed to students on the Location section of the outcome form to better align with the updated standards. The new help text will read: "If working remote or partially remote, please input your main workplace, e.g. your home office, as your location." This update is expected in August 2025.
9. Contract Work
Reports Affected: Full-time MBA, Specialty Masters
Change: Contract work can be considered a job acceptance if the following criteria are met: 1. The contract extends past three months post-graduation 2. 30 hours or more are worked per week 3. The position is an MBA-level position
MBA CSEA Rationale: This change is being made to legitimize contract work for full-time students, as it is increasing in popularity and should be reflected in outcomes reports.
12twenty Update: 12twenty will add two new outcome fields to ensure contract work is included as an accepted job if it meets the new definition: "Is this a contract position?" and (if Yes) "Please confirm if this contract position meets all the following criteria: Contract extends 3 months past your graduation date, requires at least 30 hours of work per week, and is considered an MBA-level position." These fields will be created and auto-enabled for Full-Time/Specialty Masters students in August 2025.
10. Status Changes During Data Collection
Reports Affected: Specialty Masters
Change: Students in Specialty Masters programs can be considered employed in short-term employment even if the contract ends before 6 months after graduation.
MBA CSEA Rationale: Some students’ job status may change during the data collection time period. These changes help clarify what to do in these cases.
12twenty Update: No change; the short-term criteria remains the following: Is Full Time = No, AND Are you working at least 20 hours per week? = Yes, AND Duration of job is 10 weeks or longer if both start and end date exist.
11. “Not Reported” Row
Reports Affected: All
Change: A “not reported” row will be added to all Standards tables so that the totals in each table add up to 100%.
MBA CSEA Rationale: This is being added to aid in data collection processes and help schools identify errors.
12twenty Update: A “Not Reported” row will be added to all tables. This change is expected in early 2026, to allow for schools to close out their Class of 2025 reporting.
12. Minimum Threshold to Report
Reports Affected: Specialty Masters
Change: The percent of students with known information about their employment status was lowered from 75% to 70%.
MBA CSEA Rationale: It can be difficult to achieve a 75% response rate for schools that have large populations of Specialty Masters students. The change allows those schools to remain in compliance with the Standards.
12twenty Update: No change; standard reports in 12twenty can be generated with any percentage of class knowledge rate.
13. Data Collection Timeframes
Reports Affected: Full-time MBA, Specialty Masters
Change: Full-time MBA: Clarification was added to ensure schools know that they can collect data at 6 months after graduation if they want to, but it shouldn’t be added to the Standards tables. Specialty Masters: Rather than having to indicate that a report is “interim” if it’s published before the 6-month after graduation timeframe, schools will be allowed to finalize their reports before 6 months if they either have 100% knowledge of their graduating class or have met the 70% knowledge threshold and are certain they won’t gain any additional knowledge. The required student outreaches still need to be followed.
MBA CSEA Rationale: Full-time MBA: some suggestions were made to add a 6-month after graduation data collection time period. This would increase the data collection burden for all schools, and many wouldn’t find the information relevant. The clarification ensures that schools know they are welcome to collect the data if desired. - Specialty Masters: Some schools in Europe are collecting data at three months after graduation and feel the current 6-month timeframe creates a data collection burden with little relevancy since most students are employed at that time. Schools in the U.S. prefer to continue using the 6-month timeframe. Allowing schools that have final or close to final data to close their reports before 6 months provides the flexibility needed while still allowing for comparability across schools.
12twenty Update: No change; standard reports in 12twenty are live reports that are built automatically based on standard reporting rules and student outcomes. Timing of reports is at the discretion of each school.
14. Minimum Data Points
Reports Affected: Full-time MBA, Specialty Masters
Change: Clarifying language was added to let schools know they can use a higher number of data points as their minimum to protect confidentiality if needed.
MBA CSEA Rationale: Some schools were concerned with the minimum data points or percentage language due to confidentiality. Schools can use their discretion to determine the level of protection needed.
12twenty Update: No change; handled at school’s discretion when submitting and/or publishing reports.
15. Definition of “Standards Compliant Report”
Reports Affected: Full-Time MBA
Change: Additional language was added to clarify that all tables noted in the Standards as required must be included and published in the school’s Standards Compliant Report to meet the goal of transparency. It was also clarified that schools can include additional data not defined in the Standards in their Standards Report if it’s noted that those items are not in the Standards.
Rationale: There were some questions from members about what qualifies as a “Standards Compliant Report.” These changes are aimed at clarifying that so that schools will be producing and publishing reports that are complete and transparent.
12twenty Update: No change; all required tables are included by default.
16. Industry List
Reports Affected: All
Change: Industries were updated to be consistent across all Standards. Full-time MBA – “Computers" was moved to “Technology”. “Clean tech” was removed. “Hardware” and "Software" were added under the technology sublist. "Accounting Services” was added. Clarification was added that "-tech" can be put where the school chooses as long as it's consistent from year to year.
MBA CSEA Rationale: Updates were made to reflect industry norms and provide consistency for ease of use.
12twenty Update: Consolidated Industry is mapped to a 12twenty-managed core "Standard Reporting Industry" picklist for FTMBA CSEA and "Standard Reporting Part-Time/Specialty Masters Industry" picklist for PT/Specialty Masters. We recommend making any relevant updates to your Consolidated Industry picklist once you have closed out your Class of 2025 reporting. 12twenty will make updates to our core "Standard Reporting Industry" and "Standard Reporting Part-Time/Specialty Masters Industry" picklists in early 2026, which will align all three standard report industry tables.
17. Function List
Reports Affected: All
Change: Functions were updated to be consistent across all Standards. - Full-time MBA and Part-time MBA: “Product Management” and “Business Analytics” were added. “Product Management” was removed from the sublist. “CSR” and "other" were removed from the sublist. An explanation of what "other" is was added. “Accounting” was added. - Specialty Masters: “Business Analytics” and “Product Management” were added.
MBA CSEA Rationale: Updates were made to reflect industry norms and provide consistency for ease of use.
12twenty Update: Consolidated Function is mapped to a 12twenty-managed core "Standard Reporting Function" picklist for FTMBA CSEA and "Standard Reporting Part-Time/Specialty Masters Function" picklist for PT/Specialty Masters. We recommend making any relevant updates to your Consolidated Function picklist once you have closed out your Class of 2025 reporting. 12twenty will make updates to our core "Standard Reporting Function" and "Standard Reporting Part-Time/Specialty Masters Function" picklists in early 2026, which will align all three standard report function tables.
18. Source of Employment Table
Reports Affected: Part-Time MBA, Specialty Masters
Change: The title of Table 3 was changed from “Primary Source of Current/ Accepted Position” to “Primary Source of New/Accepted Position.” Language was added to clarify that the table does not include students who didn’t change jobs while in the program.
MBA CSEA Rationale: This change was made to clarify frequently asked questions and confusion about the table.
12twenty Update: The Specialty Masters Table 3.A will be renamed from "Primary Source of Full-Time Job Acceptances" to “Primary Source of New/Accepted Position" and the Part Time MBA CSEA Table 3 will be renamed from "Primary Source of Current/Accepted Position" to “Primary Source of New/Accepted Position." These updates are expected in early 2026, to allow for schools to close out their Class of 2025 reporting.
19. Definition of Job Level Change
Reports Affected: Part-Time MBA, Specialty Masters
Change: Language was added to clarify that salary increases and job title changes alone don't constitute a job level change. To qualify for a job level change, job duties must change substantially.
MBA CSEA Rationale: This change was made to clarify frequently asked questions.
12twenty Update: The help text of the standard “Did you receive a promotion in job level compared to your position at the start of the program?” field will be updated to the following: “A level change is defined as a substantial change in job duties; salary/title changes alone do not constitute a level change.” This update is expected in August 2025.
20. Column Added to Tables
Reports Affected: Full-Time MBA, Specialty Masters
Change: Full-time MBA: Table 2.B was amended to include a “Job Accepted by Three Months After Graduation” column. - Specialty Masters - Table 2.A was amended to include a “Job Accepted by Three Months After Graduation” column.
MBA CSEA Rationale: These changes were made to help schools reconcile the tables and minimize errors.
12twenty Update: 12twenty to add a “Job Accepted by Three Months After Graduation” column to Table 2.B (Full-Time MBA) and Table 2.A (Specialty Masters). This update is expected in early 2026.
21. Consistency Updates
Reports Affected: All
Change: Updates were made to language, table numbers, and the order of sections to be the same in all three sets of Standards. - Directions for each table were moved under each table and headings and examples are consistent or similar. - Purpose, definitions and use of the standards sections were added to the top of all Standards incorporating all the same key elements.
MBA CSEA Rationale: Updates were made to language used in all three sets of standards to make them consistent where appropriate so that a user of all three sets of standards can easily navigate to the information they need moving from one set of Standards to the next.
12twenty Update: 12twenty will update the relevant tables to align with the new standards. This update is expected in early 2026.