Applications to full-time M.B.A. programs in the U.S. fell for a third straight year, the latest signal that business schools are struggling to entice young professionals out of a strengthening job market.

Students saddled with heftier college debt have become more reluctant to leave their jobs for two years to pursue one of the nation’s most expensive degrees, school administrators say. That has spurred schools to offer a flurry of specialized master’s programs that take less time to complete or offer greater flexibility for working professionals.

“Ten years ago the M.B.A. was the only option you had, but the market has shifted, and business schools, like any company, have to shift with it to meet the demand of our customers,” said J.P. Matychak, an associate dean at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business.

American business schools in the U.S. received 3.2% fewer applications in this year’s academic cycle compared with 2016, according to a survey of 407 programs by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), which administers a common admissions test. Applications from international students—for years a bright spot for specialized master’s and M.B.A. programs—fell 5.8% compared with 2016.

University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business announced last month, for instance, said it would abandon its full-time M.B.A. program to focus on degrees like its part-time master’s in business analytics. Enrollment in Tippie’s two-year M.B.A. fell from 140 students in 2010 to fewer than 100 this year, according to a spokesman.