Josh Berrington spent several years researching different business schools before taking the leap to enroll in an MBA program after receiving a generous scholarship.
“The scholarship through Texas Venture Labs was a big consideration for me and was a tipping point in my selection,” says the 33-year-old, who is now in his first year at McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas–Austin.
Berrington received $10,000 in award money plus in-state tuition at McCombs from the competitive entrepreneurial scholarship, which awards two recipients annually for innovative business ideas. In-state tuition at the UT–Austin business school costs $33,298 per year for a full-time student.
“Participating in a scholarship competition was one value I could provide myself and put out there beyond what’s in the essay and reflected in my GMAT score,” says the Southern California native.
[Learn how to calculate the return on investment for an MBA.]
With the high price tag associated with enrolling in a full-time MBA program — some costing more than $60,000 annually — most students, like Berrington, are interested in receiving some form of financial assistance other than student loans. That type of aid usually comes from graduate business schools in the form of either a scholarship or fellowship.
For prospective MBA students, here are several forms of financial aid that business schools offer as a means of support for those who attend full time.
— Recruitment scholarships: “We’re offering money to those who we really want to get into the program,” says Katelyn Stephenson, assistant dean of MBA admissions at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, who says about a third of full-time Georgetown MBA students receive some form of merit-based scholarship.
Stephenson says the average merit-based award — which also acts as a recruitment scholarship — was just under $25,000 last year. Amounts range from $10,000 all the way up to full tuition.
[Find out the hidden costs of an MBA education.]
These scholarships, she says, aren’t just for those who scored high on the GMAT. “But people who are going to add something unique or valuable to our community.”
For students who are along the numerical border for GMAT scores or underperformed at the undergraduate level, Stephenson recommends retaking the GMAT or taking additional coursework to increase their shot at merit aid.
Similar to McDonough, McCombs also hands out merit-based scholarships as a recruitment tool. The award at the Texas business school ranges from $2,000 all the way to full tuition, says Stephen Sweeney, director of admissions for full-time MBA programs at McCombs.
Prospective MBA students applying to McCombs are automatically considered for a merit-based scholarship based on their submitted applications to the school, Sweeney says.
Experts say prospective students should check whether a b-school offers merit-aid schorlarships and if all applicants are automatically considered for these grants.
[Avoid three mistakes when building your MBA budget.]
— Need-based fellowship: Some top b-schools, such as Harvard Business School and the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, don’t offer any merit-based scholarships — just need-based fellowships.
In fact, nearly 50 percent of Harvard MBA students are given a need-based fellowship, receiving $37,000 an average per year. The school determines these awards by looking at the student’s income for the past three years and assets, according to the school’s website.
Stanford offers its MBA students need-based fellowships in addition to non-need-based student loans.
“As of the start of the academic year, 55 percent of the two-year MBA student population received an average of $36,251 in need-based fellowship grants,” says Jack Edwards, financial aid director at the school.
— Merit-based fellowships: Each school handles its institutional grants to MBA students differently. A merit-based fellowship program is very competitive, experts say, and they are designed to give students a chance to focus on academics or certain research areas.
Kayode Ajayi-Smith from Abuja, Nigeria received a full-ride fellowship plus an $18,000 living stipend through Lehigh University’s Asa Packer Social Entrepreneurship Award for its new full-time, one-year MBA program.
“My key focus was to get a school that would provide me a sizable scholarship because I didn’t have the money to pursue an MBA, and $63,000 was something that I could never imagine would happen,” the 35-year-old says.
Ajayi-Smith received the award for his efforts in growing small- and medium-sized enterprises developed through a nonprofit in his home country — a program that he plans to return to after completing his MBA.
Andrew Ward, associate dean of graduate programs at Lehigh University, says the school created this new fellowship alongside the launch of its new one-year MBA program, which starts in January 2017.
Through the APSEA award and and the new MBA program, Ward says the school is trying to increase its global profile, especially with its shorter length, comparable with graduate programs in Europe.
Ajayi-Smith says he kept applying for MBA fellowships for the past three years even though he kept being turned down.
His advice: “Don’t give up because sometimes you might be closer than you think. I just put in my application and here I am.”
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Assess Your Shot at Financial Aid for an MBA Program originally appeared on usnews.com
