CHICAGO (CBS) — The stagnant job market appears to be having an effect on applications to Chicago’s business schools.

As WBBM Newsradio’s David Roe reports, Crain’s Chicago Business says applications are declining for MBA programs at Chicago area universities, as the recession makes graduate students wary of taking on huge education debts in the uncertain job market.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s David Roe reports

The Loyola University Graduate School of Business applications are down 9.5 percent, from 441 applicants in 2010 to 399 this year, Crain’s reports.

The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University has seen a decline of 5.6 percent in applications, from 5,270 to 4,974; while the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago has seen a drop of 3 percent, from 4,299 to 4,169, Crain’s reported.

Only the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University has seen an increase, up 13 percent from last year from 1,678 to 1,895. The application figures at Kellstadt have risen for four consecutive years and are up nearly 50 percent since 2008, Crain’s reported.

Crain’s points out that DePaul is less expensive than Loyola, and much less expensive than Northwestern or the U of C.