STUDYING for an MBA does not come cheap. Whether full-time or part-time, a course at a leading school can cost as much as £45,000.
Fees vary from school to school, but as a rule of thumb the more prestigious the institution and the faculty, the more it costs. (The only way of escaping big fees is to study by distance learning.) Most full-time students have to find the money to cover their fees and living costs themselves. Students studying part-time while continuing to work are often helped by employers who contribute towards costs.
An Association of MBAs survey last year found that half of employers surveyed met all the costs of part-time study, while 17 per cent paid above 40 per cent. Just 26 per cent gave no financial assistance.
For those wanting to study full time, the options are personal savings, bank loans, parental or spousal support, scholarships, redundancy payments or remortgaging.
The NatWest MBA loan scheme, set up in 1969, offers loans to full, part-time and distance-learning students. While the scheme has an excellent reputation, loans are only available to students studying at business schools accredited by the Association of MBAs. To qualify for a loan students have to have been resident in the UK for at least three years.
Advertisement
Full-time students can borrow up to two-thirds of their pre-course gross annual salaries and up to 80 per cent of the cost of course fees. Part-time students can get a loan to cover tuition fees, study equipment and course expenses.
Repayments must begin three months after graduation and will normally be spread over a period of up to ten years from the date when the loan was taken out.
Distance learners can apply for a maximum £10,000 to cover tuition fees and study equipment. Repayments begin a month after the funds have been paid.
To apply, obtain an application form from NatWest (0800 0151166). Send the form to the business school to be stamped to verify that you have been offered a place.
The school will then return the form to the Association of MBAs, which sends it to the relevant NatWest regional manager, who should respond within ten working days.
Advertisement
An interview with the applicant then takes place. One condition of the loan is that the applicant must move all his orher banking facilities to NatWest.
In addition to this scheme most major banks offer professional development loans for managers.
For those seeking scholarships, a comprehensive list of scholarships, grants and other awards appears in the Grants Register, published by Palgrave Macmillan. The publication can be found in academic and reference libraries.
DAUNTING DEBT PAYS OFF FOR STUDENTS
TOM HILL-NORTON, an Edinburgh University graduate with four years’ experience in mergers and acquisitions banking in London and New York, decided to broaden his career prospects by doing an MBA at INSEAD, Simon Midgley writes.
Advertisement
The ten-month course, which he completed more than a year ago, cost £30,000. After going to all the high street banks, Hill-Norton, 30, decided to borrow £45,000 through the NatWest’s MBA loan scheme. The ten-year loan, which carried an interest rate of around 7.5 per cent, also contributed towards his £25,000 living costs. “It is a daunting prospect looking at spending the best part of £50,000 on your studies.”
Today Hill-Norton earns around £70,000 as a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. He hopes to have cleared his loan debt in four years.
“The MBA is a good investment,” he says. “I hope to recoup it tenfold over the following 15 years.”