The expense associated with earning an MBA compels many prospective students to seek creative ways to pay for the graduate degree.
Tuition and fees for an MBA can cost roughly between $72,000 and $84,000 per year at the 11 top business schools, according to the U.S. News Best Business Schools rankings.
However, there are several ways to reduce a student’s out-of-pocket cost, admissions experts say. One way is that prospective MBA students who work for a major company may be able to get employer sponsorship.
Basics of Employer MBA Sponsorships
“Company sponsorships can be smart ways to have your MBA paid for in part or in full by your employer,” Judith Silverman Hodara, founder of Fortuna Admissions, a Pennsylvania-based MBA admissions consultancy, wrote in an email.
Sponsorship comes with conditions, and sponsored students are expected to return to jobs in their firms, she says.
“If you think that you want to go to business school, think through carefully what you would want to get out of the experience and if you believe that going back to your current company is worth that investment.”
[How to Get a Low-Cost or Free MBA]
Sam Weeks, an MBA admissions consultant and founder of Sam Weeks Consulting, says most companies will agree to pay for your MBA if you commit to staying with the company at least two years after earning the degree.
“If you go back for only a fraction of that time, the contribution from the company would be prorated accordingly,” he says. “If you go back for only one year, they may pay 50% for the MBA.”
Weeks says there’s also increasing interest in one-year programs that may cost less. “If the company is not paying the whole amount, the applicant is well within their rights to apply for school scholarships.”
Many Fortune 500 firms offer some form of tuition reimbursement for MBAs, typically ranging from $3,500 to $50,000 per year or full tuition, Hodara says.
Some sponsorship programs give “100 percent of tuition upfront for eligible hourly employees to earn an MBA at schools in its approved network,” she says. “Salaried employees are eligible for tuition reimbursement. Other companies have negotiated tuition discounts for employees with selected universities.”
Why Employers Sponsor MBA Students and How it Works
A corporate sponsorship is an investment in the employee from two perspectives, Weeks says.
“The first involves giving them the skills and the network to make them better in their job,” he says. “The second is to make them happy. It’s a perk that attracts hardworking and ambitious people.”
Companies that offer sponsorship generally make it known among their staff and implement an internal process to request financial assistance to earn an MBA, Weeks explains. “Each company usually has a list of MBA programs that they will sponsor. Applicants cross-check that list with their target schools and they apply to those schools on the list.”
Companies usually choose MBA schools in the top 25 of the U.S. News & World Report rankings, Weeks says.
“Some companies have an institutional culture of company sponsorship,” he adds. “For others, the process may be ad hoc. The company generally pays the school directly and there will be a direct channel between the school and the employer.”
[See: 15 Ways to Find Money to Pay for an MBA.]
Weeks, who earned an MBA from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, says employees generally choose between two MBA options: a part-time MBA that allows the employee to keep working while taking classes evenings or weekends and that often includes the executive MBA option, and a full-time MBA for which “the candidate leaves the job for an extended period to do the MBA and returns to the job.”
Hodara, a former acting director of admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, says sponsored MBA applicants often have an extended network within their organizations.
“They bring the potential for enhanced collaboration and partnerships between the school and their employers, creating opportunities for internships, mentorship, and recruiting,” she says.
Types of Employers Most Likely to Offer MBA Sponsorships
Management consultancies are most likely to offer MBA sponsorship, followed by banking and real estate industries, some experts say.
Weeks says large consulting firms need their employees to have access to various industries, particularly management consultancies where employees have a range of knowledge and skills.
“If you want an employee to get experience in different industries in a short amount of time, an MBA is the best if not the only way to do that,” he says. “Companies value that because they find it difficult to give exposure and training outside of their own industry.”
Why You Shouldn’t Choose an Employer Solely Based on Its MBA Sponsorship Policy
Weeks says an MBA sponsorship is nice to have, but it shouldn’t be the sole determinant for choosing where to work.
“You are going to need to work at the company for two or three years before they sponsor your MBA, and you need to commit to going back there for two more years after the MBA,” he says. “You don’t sign for four or five years to a company just because they offer an MBA, which takes two years. If it’s the wrong company for you, it could change the direction of your career, making you miserable and unhappy.”
[See: 15 Ways to Find Money to Pay for an MBA.]
Hodara advises against taking a job “because you think it’s going to help you get into business school. Take a job because you are interested in it and it’s what you want to do.”
Then, if your employer sponsors you for an MBA, “it’s good to show you are thoroughly committed to the entire MBA experience, especially if you are from a company where getting an MBA is almost a prerequisite for getting promoted,” she says. “You need to show that you are not just doing the MBA to jump through that hoop.”
7 Companies That Help Pay for Employees to Earn an MBA
Here are seven large companies that, at varying levels, sponsor employees earning an MBA. Many other employers offer such a benefit, and amounts and requirements vary widely among them.
The Walt Disney Company
The worldwide media and entertainment corporation offers 100% percent tuition, paid up front, for MBAs at in-network schools through its Disney Aspire Program.
RTX
The global aerospace company offers tuition assistance for MBAs through its Employee Scholar Program.
Deloitte
This professional services company, through its Graduate School Assistance Program, offers full tuition reimbursement after two years of employment and an offer to return to the company as a senior consultant after completing the degree.
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Through its Guild education benefits program, the worldwide banking institution sponsors up to $7,500 a year for MBA programs at approved schools.
Boeing
The aerospace and defense company provides up to $25,000 annually through its Learning Together Program for graduate degrees at approved schools. Employees are eligible upon hiring and must meet minimum work schedule requirements while in school.
The leading technology company offers partial MBA sponsorship for employees through an education reimbursement program.
Intel
Through its tuition assistance program, this technology company offers up to $50,000 for employees seeking an MBA.
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How To Get Employer-Sponsored MBA Degrees originally appeared on usnews.com
