For the majority of MBA students, funding the cost of their chosen MBA program will mean digging into hard-earned savings, pulling in favours from sympathetic relatives or taking out some form of education loan. However, for a lucky minority, another option can make all the difference to the business school experience - the MBA scholarship..
According to Rose Martinelli, Dean of Admissions at Chicago GSB in the USA, “Every year there are millions of dollars of unclaimed scholarships for MBA and graduate education, often from government agencies which have no marketing budgets to promote their schemes. Applicants have to search out these scholarships." But where do you start?
Many business schools award their own scholarships to outstanding MBA candidates and your chosen school should, consequently, be your first port of call. These scholarships vary in amount and normally take the form of fee remission, with some including a contribution to living expenses. Qualification criteria vary from school to school, but the most common are nationality, academic excellence or the all-embracing term, ‘merit’. Lauren Tracey, Financial Aid Director at Carnegie Mellon University explains, "We offer merit scholarships, which require no separate financial aid application. Simply put, the admission application alone makes applicants eligible for consideration for a merit scholarship." In 2004, 76% of fulltime MBA students were awarded institutional grants or scholarship awards at Carnegie Mellon. Their merit awards ranged anywhere from US$2,500 up to the full tuition cost. Another US school, University of Chicago GSB, offers scholarships to approximately 30% of the incoming class each year. These are available to both US citizens and international students and, if admitted, candidates are automatically considered for a scholarship.
"One of the newest sources of scholarships is the international business school information fair, the QS World MBA Tour."
Frank Knox Fellowships are for recent graduates applying to Harvard Business School, while international candidates securing a place at the University of Pennsylvania are eligible to apply for Thuron Scholarships. In Europe, two of the leading schools, London Business School and INSEAD communicate their scholarship portfolio to successful candidates, only when they are offered a place. The nationality qualification is becoming increasingly common as schools seek to create truly international classes by encouraging applications from countries where there is little or no tradition of management education or where the cost of studying abroad would be prohibitive. The business school of the University of South Dakota, for example, offers a US$5000 scholarship exclusively for students originating in East Asia, while Edinburgh Business School in the UK has developed four scholarships specifically targeted at applicants from South America and Africa. Other schools use the scholarship tool to improve student diversity in a different way. The Indian School of Business has two awards sponsored by the Anand Group and Novartis, which are only available to women, while Northeastern University on the east coast of the USA uses the Martin Luther King Jr Graduate Fellowship to attract students from the African- American community. Details of scholarships from over 280 major schools are available through the online tool TopMBA Scorecard, which allows potential MBAs to search and evaluate programmes according to personal aims, abilities and circumstances – see www.topmba.com.
Business Schools, however, are not the only source of scholarships. Some enlightened employers have developed scholarship programmes in recent years to support potential students from within their ranks. Iain Corby, a consultant at the London office of Deloitte, managed to access funding from the firm for an MBA programme at UCLA in California, despite the fact that scholarships were normally only available for European study at the time. “It took some negotiation,” he says, “but the firm eventually accepted my case that the school and the specialisms it could offer were right for me.”
Charitable institutions also provide a wide range of scholarships. Fulbright Awards, for example, offer help with study in the USA to academic achievers. Grants are awarded on the basis of academic merit and professional promise. Over 140 countries participate in the programme and 51 bi-national Commissions have been established. The Rotary Foundation's Ambassadorial Scholarships is the world's largest privately funded international scholarships programme awarding more than 1,100 scholarships to candidates from 64 countries for study in 69 countries. Awards total approximately US$26 million.
Some enlightened employers have developed scholarship programmes
Christian Kanu obtained a Rotary International Scholarship to pursue an MBA at Cranfield in the UK. He advises, “In order to enhance your chances of gaining a scholarship, be informed about all scholarships and try to be better or different from the other applicants." Michel Berthelin received a US$22,000 two-year Rotary scholarship to study for an MBA at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and offers pointed advice. "My feeling is that people who stand a good chance of getting a scholarship have the following characteristics: they have set clear goals for their careers, they express a strong desire to meet other cultures, they understand the ideals of the Rotary Foundation and they are genuinely looking for ways to contribute to a better world.”
One of the newest sources of scholarships is the international business school information fair, the QS World MBA Tour. In addition to meeting Admissions Directors of over 300 of the world’s top business schools, candidates who visit the QS World MBA Tour in 2007 will qualify to apply for over US$1,300,000 of exclusive MBA scholarships. Partner schools offering scholarships for 2007 start dates, include; Wharton, Politecnico di Milano, IE Instituto de Empresa, Nijenrode and Ashridge.
IE Instituto de Empresa awarded their 2005 World MBA Tour Female Scholarship worth US$36,000 to Raluca Balanescu, a Romanian who had worked around the world and met IE at the QS World MBA Tour in Toronto in September 2004. Raluca had studied at Bentley College in the US where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. She then combined work experience assisting experienced executives in contract negotiations, as well as mentoring underprivileged children in her spare time.
QS, the organisers of the fairs, themselves offer seven scholarships, for study at any major institution. Winners of the QS Scholarships for the 2006 season, who were selected from over 900 applicants, included nationals of Italy, Turkey, Chile, China, Malaysia and the USA. According to the scholarship sponsors, Nunzio Quacquarelli and Matt Symonds of QS, the purpose of the awards is “to enable talented individuals to attend leading business or graduate schools so that they may acquire further skills in leadership, teamwork and corporate governance and thereby be able to change and make a meaningful difference to the world.” The selection panel also try to ensure geographic diversity in the mix of winners. One of the early winners was Nadja Specht, who has just completed her MBA at Goizueta Business School, Emory in Atlanta. Whilst working as a management consultant with Accenture, based in Munich, Nadja successfully led an international client team of eight individuals from France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands during a post-merger integration, at the age of 26. “The QS scholarship has made a big difference to my life. I now have a great MBA and can stay and work in the US.”
Scholarships at the QS World MBA Tour 2006The Wharton School Scholarship at the World MBA TourThe Joseph Wharton Fellowship is awarded to the student that best exemplifies the values of the Wharton community. It acknowledges demonstrated achievements in scholarship, proven leadership, a commitment to professional excellence, and an impact on an organization and/or group. The Wharton School, in association with the QS World MBA Tour, is making one such fellowship available to one admitted student who has registered for a QS World MBA Tour event. The scholarship is worth US$10,000 per annum (awarded each year the student is enrolled, subject to the student remaining in good academic standing). Politecnico di Milano ScholarshipCandidates attending the QS World MBA tour will qualify for scholarships worth up to €1 million at one of Europe’s top schools for management and design. Instituto de Empresa ScholarshipThe New-York based Instituto de Empresa Foundation, IE Fund, and QS World MBA Tour, are to award an annual scholarship for the Instituto de Empresa International MBA Programme to women with outstanding academic records and a high potential for leadership and professional advancement. The US$36,000 scholarship covers 100% of programme fees. Ashridge Business School Female ScholarshipThis British business school offers an exclusive full scholarship for women, through the QS World MBA Tour. Wim Kok Scholarship at NijenrodeThis merit-based scholarship, open to nationals of the new European Union member States, wishing to follow the Nijenrode International MBA program, is worth €15,000, and covers part of the tuition fees. QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) ScholarshipsThe QS Scholarships are awarded each year to people who have demonstrated socially responsible leadership. Applicants must have attended a QS World MBA Tour or World Grad School Tour Fair, in person, to be eligible for the scholarships. QS Scholarship winners are united, not by a great academic background, or working for a top-tier employer, though many possess these attributes, but by their demonstration of responsible leadership, in very varied circumstances. The QS Scholarships winners 2006Yue Tu from China |
Source: QS TopMBA Career Guide