Posted by Clear Admit on April 28, 2011, at 1:00 pm
Posted in:  Financial Aid , School: Chicago More U.S. military veterans will receive scholarship support at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business beginning next year, the school announced this week.
Beginning in September 2011, all veterans who qualify for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Yellow Ribbon Program will receive $10,000 per year in scholarship aid from Chicago Booth. The Veterans Administration will provide up to $10,000 in additional funding. Previously, the school awarded only nine scholarships per year. » Continue reading
Posted by Clear Admit on February 21, 2011, at 3:00 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips , Financial Aid Though many business school applicants know exactly what they want to do – and how much they hope to make – after they graduate from an MBA program, a surprising number apply to school without thinking about how they’ll pay for this expensive degree. While some students do foot the entire bill themselves or receive scholarship support from the school or an outside institution, the vast majority of MBA students borrow funds to cover their tuition and living expenses. With this in mind, we wanted to cover some very basic information on loans for the benefit of both recent admits entering school this fall and early birds entry just beginning to think about their applications for Fall ’11. » Continue reading
Posted by Clear Admit on October 20, 2010, at 1:00 pm
Posted in: Financial Aid , MBA News , School: INSEAD INSEAD’s entire MBA class will be offered loans to cover the cost of the MBA program as part of a new bond system financed in part by INSEAD alumni, the Financial Times reported this week.
The Prodigy MBA Bond for INSEAD was listed on the Irish Stock Exchange last week, the culmination of a €50m “community education bond” developed by Prodigy Finance, an international education finance firm set up by three INSEAD alumni, according to the FT report.
The plan, developed to provide financing to INSEAD students until 2015, relies on a bond system that takes into account students’ potential earnings as part of a predictive approach designed to reduce risk to investors. » Continue reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 21, 2010, at 1:00 pm
Posted in: Financial Aid , MBA News , School: London Business School London Business School (LBS) announced last week that it has received a generous scholarship donation from an anonymous donor to support Brazilian students.
The donation will support the Wili and Ilse Scholarship, a fund providing tuition assistance to students of Brazilian nationality who enroll in the school’s MBA program. “This gift will have a real impact on the lives of future generations of Brazilian students at London Business School,” Sir Andrew Likierman, dean of LBS, said in a statement announcing the donation.
Likierman went on to thank the anonymous donor for his or her support, stressing that scholarships are critical in enabling LBS to attract and retain talented and deserving students from around the globe. According to a release from the school, LBS awarded more than 100 scholarships in the past year alone, totaling more than £1 million in student support.
For a full list of scholarship opportunities at LBS, click here.
Posted by Clear Admit on June 9, 2010, at 1:00 pm
Posted in: Financial Aid , School: IMD How does diversity in management impact the bottom line? Women applying for the MBA program at Switzerland’s IMD Business School who submit their answers to that question could win CHF 25,000 (Swiss francs) toward tuition as part of a scholarship program announced earlier this month.
The Nestlé Scholarship for Women was initiated by a group of IMD MBAs seeking to encourage more women to consider the degree. It was first awarded in 1997.
One scholarship is awarded each year, with preference given to candidates from developing countries. To be eligible for consideration, candidates must gain admission to IMD prior to submitting their scholarship application and must demonstrate financial need.
Interested applicants are invited to submit an essay of 750 words or less on the impact diversity in management can have on the bottom line. The IMD MBA Scholarship Committee will review all entries before selecting a winner. The deadline for essay submissions is September 30th.
To learn more about the Nestlé Scholarship for Women at IMD, click here.
Posted by Clear Admit on April 26, 2010, at 1:00 pm
Posted in: Financial Aid , MBA News , School: UCLA / Anderson The Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is the latest business school to join the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, a national nonprofit organization that works to promote diversity and inclusion on American business school campuses and in American business in general.
Becoming the Consortium’s sixteenth member school earlier this month, UCLA Anderson joins several other top business schools in a shared commitment to help increase opportunities for MBA candidates of all backgrounds to attend top-ranked institutions. The Consortium awards merit-based, full-tuition fellowships to promising candidates at each of its member schools. Beginning in the fall of 2010, the Consortium will begin recruiting prospective MBA students for UCLA Anderson, with the first class graduating in the spring of 2013.
“We’ll be enriching the learning experiences of our students through a student body that reflects a diverse set of perspectives, backgrounds and life experiences, and that’s a strategic priority for our school,” Anderson Dean Judy Olian said in a statement announcing the school’s membership. “As our students prepare for global leadership roles, they must be exposed to a range of perspectives, cultures, and world views. Through the diverse pipeline of students who participate in the Consortium, that preparation will be enhanced,” she continued.
As a Consortium member, UCLA Anderson joins the University of California Berkeley, which also joined the organization this year. Other Consortium members include Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Emory University, Indiana University – Bloomington, University of Michigan, New York University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Rochester, University of Southern California, The University of Texas at Austin, University of Virginia, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Wisconsin – Madison and Yale University.
For more information on the Consortium for Graduate Management Study, click here.
Posted by Clear Admit on April 14, 2010, at 1:00 pm
Posted in: Financial Aid , School: Stanford In a post to the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) Admissions Blog yesterday, the school announced that it is now accepting applications for two scholarship programs aimed toward prospective applicants with financial need from Bangladesh and India.
The first scholarship, the Grameen Fellows Program, is for Bangladeshi students interested in pursuing an MBA at Stanford GSB who demonstrate financial need. The award covers all financial costs related to tuition and living expenses for the MBA program as well associated application and examination fees. Recipients of the Grameen scholarship agree to return to Bangladesh upon completion of the Stanford MBA program for at least two years of work in the public or private sector.
As part of the Grameen Fellows application, due June 1, 2010, prospective applicants must supply education and employment background, a resume, a 250-word essay and individual financial information. Up to 20 applicants will be selected as Grameen Fellows finalists based on merit, commitment to developing Bangladesh and demonstrated financial need. These finalists will then go on to complete the standard Stanford MBA application. Stanford may choose up to two Grameen Fellows based on intellectual vitality, leadership potential and personal qualities and contributions.
The second scholarship, the Reliance Dhirubhai Fellows Program, supports prospective Indian applicants with financial need who hope to pursue an MBA at Stanford GSB. As part of this program, created by Reliance Industries Limited, Stanford may award up to five fellows each year.
Reliance Fellows will receive full financial support for the two-year Stanford MBA Program and fees associated with applying and attending. Recipients of the Reliance Fellowship agree to return to India upon completion of the MBA program for two years of work in the public or private sector.
As with the Grameen Fellowship, the Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship is a two-part application process, in which applicants first apply for the scholarship and then those selected as finalists go on to complete the standard Stanford MBA application process. Up to 50 finalists may be selected for the Reliance Dhirubhai Fellows Program. The deadline for this application, available online, is also June 1, 2010.
For more details about these and other fellowships available to prospective applicants to the Stanford Graduate School of Business, click here.
Posted by Clear Admit on March 15, 2010, at 1:00 pm
Posted in: Financial Aid , GMAT News The Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), which owns the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT), has created a new program designed to target prospective business school applicants for whom the GMAT registration fee presents a barrier to applying to business school.
The new fee waiver program, part of GMAC’s ongoing efforts to ensure universal access to graduate management education, lets business schools apply for up to 10 fee waivers per year that they can then offer to prospective students who can’t afford the $250 exam fee on their own.
GMAC encourages schools to offer fee waivers as part of need-based scholarship and financial aid programs, although schools may also use them to recruit students from financially disadvantaged regions or from other countries, GMAC says. For example, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) uses the fee waivers to help recruit students from what are called “less developed” sections of China, GMAC reports. GMAC will consider such recruitment initiatives when schools apply for more than 10 fee waivers per year.
GMAC does not grant fee waivers directly to prospective applicants, but only through business schools. The business schools that receive waivers, for their part, must provide monthly accounting to help GMAC monitor outreach efforts.
For more information on this new program, click here. Business school administrators who would like to learn more about the program can also email feewaivers@gmac.com.
Posted by Clear Admit on February 15, 2010, at 3:53 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips , Financial Aid Though many business school applicants know exactly what they want to do – and how much they hope to make – after they graduate from an MBA program, a surprising number apply to school without thinking about how they’ll pay for this expensive degree. While some students do foot the entire bill themselves or receive scholarship support from the school or an outside institution, the vast majority of MBA students borrow funds to cover their tuition and living expenses. With this in mind, we wanted to cover some very basic information on loans for the benefit of both recent admits entering school this fall and early birds entry just beginning to think about their applications for Fall ’10.
The primary source of funding for U.S.-based applicants will be federal loans or alternative education loans. The main federal loans, available to U.S. citizens or permanent residents, are the Federal Stafford Loan (subsidized or unsubsidized), the Federal Perkins Loan and the GradPLUS Loan. Full-time students, usually those enrolled in two or more courses per semester, can borrow as much as $20,500/year through the Federal Stafford loan program. Perkins Loans are low-interest (5 percent) loans with a maximum annual loan amount of $8,000/year for graduate students. The Grad PLUS Loan can be used to pay for the total cost of education less minus aid you’ve already been awarded. Those interested in applying for federal student aid should check out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). When federal loans are not enough, private loans can help bridge the gap in education costs. Students might contact their local bank or look into lender programs, such as SallieMae, Access Group or GradLoans, for details on borrowing eligibility.
International students are not eligible for federal loans, but may consider private loans as a financing option. The International Student Loan Program (ISLP), for instance, offers a credit-based loan to international students who are looking to finance their education in the U.S. However, as with most private loans, this loan requires a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to co-sign. International students can also visit International Education Financial Aid (IEFA) to search for funds (as can U.S. citizens planning on studying overseas). Finally, most of the leading MBA programs offer private loans to their students in partnership with a particular financial institution – some of which do not require a co-signer – so this might become an option after one is admitted.
Many need-based loans are classified as subsidized, meaning that interest does not accrue while the borrower is enrolled in a degree program (whereas interest begins to accrue immediately on unsubsidized loans). Typical timelines of loan repayment can extend from 5 to 30 years, depending on the lender’s conditions of deferral and the amount of funds borrowed. After graduation, students usually have a 6-month grace period before monthly repayment begins. While schools’ admittance packages usually include detailed information about financing the MBA, incoming students and applicants should not hesitate contact the school’s financial aid office for further information on available need- or credit-based loans.
Posted by Clear Admit on February 12, 2010, at 1:00 pm
Posted in: Financial Aid , MBA News The MBA Tour, an international organization uniting business school admissions representatives with prospective MBA applicants, has created a new scholarship program. The program is designed for prospective MBA students who are accepted by an MBA program they meet at an MBA Tour event and demonstrate an interest in applying the business management skills they obtain toward any of a number of socially responsible objectives.
To fund the new program, the MBA Tour has established the Peter and Alice von Loesecke Scholarship Foundation, which will award one or two scholarships each year in the amount of $20,000 to the candidate or candidates who best exemplify the award criteria, which include the following:
• A desire to return to a home country to grow a family business and create employment
• A desire to create a socially responsible entrepreneurial venture (e.g. micro lending, basic health care delivery in poverty stricken rural areas)
• A desire to work for an international lending organization providing loans for projects in developing countries
• A former volunteer or employee of a public service organization (e.g. veteran of the armed forces, peace corps volunteer, or an NGO)
Scholarship recipients must continue to pursue the objectives for which the scholarship was awarded during their MBA studies.
To be eligible for this new scholarship, interested applicants must have attended an MBA Tour event after July 2009, be accepted by a school they met at the event and be nominated by that school for the scholarship. Nominations must be received by April 16th, and nominee applications are due by May 14th. MBA Tour will announce scholarship finalists and semi-finalists on June 11th.
To learn more about this new scholarship opportunity, click here. For answers to any questions about the scholarship, email scholarshipfoundation@thembatour.com.
Posted by Clear Admit on August 11, 2009, at 1:00 pm
Posted in: Admissions Tips , Events , Financial Aid , MBA News International applicants to U.S. MBA programs face greater obstacles than usual as more loan programs require co-signers and acquiring visas to study and work in the United States has become more difficult. BusinessWeek has asked Clear Admit’s own Graham Richmond to help address international applicants’ questions and concerns as part of an upcoming online chat scheduled for August 18th.
Richmond, Clear Admit’s CEO and co-founder, has spent almost 15 years working in MBA admissions, including as an admission counselor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, where he himself earned an MBA. Clear Admit has long been a resource for international applicants to U.S. MBA programs, and as part of the BW chat, Richmond will answer questions about everything from student loans to student life on American campuses.
The online chat will take place on Tuesday, August 18th, at 12 noon ET. To participate, head to the Business Schools homepage on BusinessWeek.com about 10 minutes before the event is scheduled to begin. Look for a promo for the chat on the right hand side of the page toward the bottom. To enter the Chat Auditorium, click on the promo. (If you haven’t already registered for the site, you’ll be asked to do so then. Registration is free and should only take a few minutes.)
Prospective international MBA applicants, you won’t want to miss this chance to pose your questions to Richmond directly. For more specific details on loans for international students, also consult the Clear Admit International Student Loan Scorecard.
Posted by Clear Admit on June 19, 2009, at 1:00 pm
Posted in: Financial Aid , MBA News , School: Yale Yale University this week announced that it has entered into an agreement with the United States Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to participate in a supplemental scholarship program to help eligible veterans pay for higher education. Qualified students pursuing their MBA at the Yale School of Management (SOM) are eligible to participate as part of the program.
Called the Yellow Ribbon program, the supplemental scholarship provides matching funds from Yale and the VA for qualified veterans. Yale will provide up to $5,000 – to be matched dollar for dollar by the VA for a total maximum scholarship of $10,000 – for as many as 50 veterans or eligible dependents.
“We owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women who have served our country in the armed forces,” Yale Provost Peter Salovey said in a statement announcing the school’s participation. “We are pleased to join the VA in helping to ensure that a Yale education is affordable for veterans from all walks of life.”
As part of the Post 9/11 GI Bill enacted in 2008, the VA will cover tuition and fees for in-state undergraduate education for veterans who served 36 months of active duty after September 11, 2001. The Yellow Ribbon Program is designed to provide supplementary aid, through agreements with partner universities for matching funds, that will cover tuition and fees that exceed in-state undergraduate levels, either at private institutions or for more expensive graduate study or both.
Prospective applicants to Yale SOM who believe they may be eligible for the benefits under the Post 9/11 GI Bill are encouraged to contact Yale’s registrar or financial aid officer.
Posted by Clear Admit on June 9, 2009, at 12:00 pm
Posted in: Financial Aid , MBA News , School: IMD Earlier this month, leading global business school IMD in Switzerland announced the creation of a new MBA scholarship to support an individual student from an emerging country who works either as a social entrepreneur or for an NGO. With the new scholarship, IMB hopes to increase its class diversity by bringing participants who might otherwise not be able to attend the MBA program.
Criteria for the scholarship, which will be supported through alumni fundraising efforts, were defined by alumni representatives on the IMD Scholarship Foundation Selection Committee.
The Selection Committee will look for applicants from emerging countries who demonstrate a passion for contributing to society through social responsibility. “This person will truly bring a different perspective to the class,” the Selection Committee stated. “We believe it will also make a difference when the candidate returns to his or her home country to apply the learnings gleaned from the IMD experience.”
To be considered, candidates must demonstrate financial need, currently work as a social entrepreneur or for an NGO in his or her home country or region with 4 to 10 years of work experience and have made a significant contribution to society at either a local or nationwide level. He or she should also possess strong leadership skills, be able to make a significant contribution to the IMD class dynamic and plan to return to his or her home country or region in a socially responsible leadership role after IMD.
Target countries and regions for scholarship applicants include, but are not limited to, Africa, Latin America, China and India. The IMD Scholarship Foundation will provide for living expenses, and IMD will contribute Sfr 45,000 toward tuition. The selected candidate will need to cover the additional tuition through savings or a loan.
To learn more about the new IMD MBA scholarship, click here.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 18, 2009, at 10:30 am
Posted in: Financial Aid , School: Berkeley / Haas , School: Chicago , School: Columbia , School: Cornell / Johnson , School: Dartmouth / Tuck , School: Duke / Fuqua , School: Harvard , School: Michigan / Ross , School: MIT / Sloan , School: Northwestern / Kellogg , School: NYU Stern , School: Penn / Wharton , School: Stanford , School: UCLA / Anderson , School: Virginia / Darden , School: Yale Last fall, due to shrinking credit markets resulting from the global economic crisis, banks were forced to cancel a range of existing loan programs with many top business schools. Domestic students pursuing an MBA were not impacted, but the cancellations brought to an abrupt end most loan programs for international students that didn’t require a U.S. cosigner.
The schools have been working hard ever since to find solutions for their international students, and in the course of the past month, several top MBA programs have announced new no-cosigner loan options.
Here at Clear Admit, we have worked to compile the following international student loan scorecard, intended to give prospective applicants a quick view of available no-cosigner loan options on a school-by-school basis. Where available, we also have listed specific loan terms and rates. For additional details about any of the loan programs listed, please follow the corresponding links. We will update this resource regularly as new loan programs are added and/or program terms are announced.
Schools with No-Cosigner Loan Programs in Place
• Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville: On April 14th, Darden Director of Admissions Sara Neher announced that her office has successfully negotiated a new no-cosigner loan program for international students. Details of the program, which have not been shared publicly, have been sent directly to admitted international students, Neher reported.
• Fuqua School of Business at Duke University: On May 11th, Fuqua announced on its website that international students will be able to secure loans for their studies at Fuqua without the need for a U.S. cosigner. “We have a solution in hand that will meet students’ needs, with terms similar to those offered for the current academic year,” according to the website. To date, details and terms of that program have not been shared publicly.
• Harvard Business School: On April 15th, Harvard University announced a new partnership with the Harvard University Credit Union to provide private educational loans that don’t require a U.S. cosigner to its international students, including MBA students at HBS. Specific terms and details of the loan program have yet to be announced.
• Stern School of Business at New York University: According to the NYU Stern Financial Aid website, there are currently two loan programs for international students that do NOT require a U.S. cosigner. NYU currently has a program for eligible borrowers through JPMC and a program with Global Student Loan Corporation.
• Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor: The Ross School of Business has partnered with the University of Michigan Credit Union to create the RSB-UMCU International Student Loan Program, which provides no-cosigner loans up to the cost of attendance to all international students enrolled in or admitted to any graduate programs at Ross for 2009-10 and 2010-11. The variable-interest loans feature no origination fee, a rate of prime plus 1.75 percent, a floor of 4.5 percent and a rate cap of 18 percent adjusted quarterly. (Borrowers with a qualified U.S. cosigner can receive an additional 0.5 percent discount.) The loans feature a 20-year repayment period with a six-month post-graduation grace period. The RSC-UMCU loan application will be available in early July 2009.
• Sloan School of Business at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Through a partnership with the MIT Federal Credit Union, Sloan offers its international students a custom credit-based alternative loan that does not require a U.S. cosigner. The loan features an aggregate limit of up to $170,000 and carries a variable interest rate of prime plus 2.75 percent. (International students with a U.S. cosigner will receive a 0.5 percent rate reduction.) The loan’s interest rate varies quarterly and has a rate floor of 5.50 percent and a rate cap of 18 percent. Students have up to 25 years to repay depending on the loan balance, and repayment begins six months after graduation.
• Stanford Graduate School of Business: According to the Stanford GSB website, the school has partnered with the Stanford Federal Credit Union (SFCU) and Citibank to provide private educational loans to international business school students that do not require a U.S. cosigner. As of this writing, no additional details about the loan program are available.
• Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College: In early May, Tuck sent an email to international applicants for the Class of 2011 announcing a new self-funded loan program for international students that doesn’t require a cosigner. According to a Tuck spokesperson, the school is still in the process of working out some of the details of the program with Dartmouth, including the interest rate.
• University of Chicago Booth School of Business: On April 14th, Chicago Booth announced a new loan program through JPMorgan Chase that will provide financing for qualified international students who aren’t eligible for federal loans and who cannot qualify for standard private loans because they don’t have a U.S. co-signer. The loans will cover amounts up to the total cost of attendance less any scholarship aid received and will feature set terms due to the continuing volatility of the market. The terms of the loans will be communicated later this spring, and the new loan program will officially launch in late May.
• Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania: On April 9th, Wharton announced the creation of a custom loan program with Digital Federal Credit Union to cover tuition and living expenses for international students without a U.S. cosigner requirement. The new loans will carry an interest rate of prime plus 3 percent, and borrowers can reduce the rate 25 basis points farther by arranging for automatic repayments. To provide these rates, Wharton has agreed to share some of the potential default risk with the lender.
• Yale School of Management: On March 12th, Yale SOM announced a new self-funded loan program for international students with no U.S. cosigner requirement. The maximum annual amount of the new loan program is $49,945 for the Class of 2011 – equivalent to tuition and fees for the academic year – minus any scholarship awarded. The loans carry a fixed interest rate of 7.75 percent. Students have 10 years to repay the loans but make no payments while enrolled and have a six-month grace period after enrollment ends to begin repayment.
Schools With Loan Programs Requiring Co-Signers
• Columbia Business School: According to the CBS website, loans for international students without a U.S. co-signer are currently not available. “Most international students rely on family funds, personal savings, government or company sponsorships and/pr loans secured in their home countries,” the website reads. CBS spokesperson Sona Rai confirmed on May 8th that the above information is accurate and up to date.
• Johnson School of Business at Cornell University: According to the school’s website, the only U.S. loan option available to international students is with a credit-worthy U.S. citizen cosigner or U.S. permanent resident cosigner. “The Johnson School is currently investigating loan options for international students without a U.S. cosigner and will provide information as it evolves,” the website reads. Queries to the school spokesperson regarding any new information received no reply.
• Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University: International students at Kellogg are eligible for the NU International Loan Program, which offers two cosigner options. Option A, which requires a credit-worthy U.S. citizen or permanent resident cosigner (spouse cannot act as cosigner), features no origination fee and a current interest rate for the 2008-9 academic year of 7.50 percent. Option B has no citizenship/residency requirement for the student or cosigner, but international students are required to have a family member included as a cosigner (parent, guardian, or relative; spouse cannot act as co-signer). Interest for both options is variable annually and set by the university, September 1st through August 31st. Kellogg spokesperson Meg Washburn confirmed on May 8th that the above information is current and accurate.
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