Financing MBA: School credit w/o cosigners

I agree with Jock4MBA. Cornell, for example, offers a loan w/o co-signer only to cover the cost of tuition (around 95/100k). That basically means that you've got to cover all your living expenses by yourself (estimated by the school to be around $40k over two years).
Simply put, this whole process is mighty expensive for internationals who don't have US based co-signers!

UPDATE:
a) I received a firm NO from Tepper's Finaid dept
b) inserted into the file info on Columbia and Booth

I suggest that you categorize schools also based on whether the loan covers the cost of living because for many internationals, especially those from developing countries, shelling out $40K+ in cash is nearly impossible. In some of these countries this is the equivalent of a 1BR apartment or 10+ years worth of savings. That would eliminate Haas, NYU, UCLA, Cornell, Yale. Columbia doesn't offer a loan at all. Kellogg and Tuck don't cover the full cost. Not sure whether MIT, Chicago, Wharton, and Darden cover 100% tuition+cost. Too bad that some of these schools don't disclose details on their websites and say that you'll know more if you are admitted - not really transparent and helpful. HBS, Stanford, Ross and Duke offer loans that cover all as far as I know.

The Tuck loan for internationals offers a 0,5% discount for those with a US co-signer and I believe a discount in the origination fee.

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Tuck's international loan program has no origination fee. However, the maximum you can borrow as an international student is $114,000 usd. They also have an institutional loan available for students with the most demonstrated need which allows you to take a further $6000 per year.

For the class of 2013 the total estimated costs are approx $172,000. that means internationals have to find $46,000 on their own.

I was very fortunate to be awarded a scholarship that covers a portion of this cost, and I think many of the international students recieve this.

I can see how this would be daunting for many people, and I hope it doesn't put off any high quality candidates from applying to this amazing school.

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RHB, thanks for the clarification, I made a mistake.

So, if an international student at Tuck wants to finance 100% of the $172.000, he or she will still need a co-signer to be able to borrow the remaining $46.000 through a private loan such as CitiAssist. Is that correct ?

Thanks




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HDFC is trying to be Indian Salie Mae without GOI backing

In general they are ruthless with home loan buyers....so would be cautious...but this is only option as of now

Hi Guys,

This is a great idea of Vorskl to pull this info together. A couple of comments based on my experience at MIT Sloan:

1) There are laws in the US controlling what schools can and cannot say about loans. My experience has been that most schools will only go so far as to say "Over the past three years, our students have used loans from the following companies". What this means, rather frustratingly sometimes, is that if a school has a good loan programme for international students, you have to sift through a lot of stuff, do a lot of digging, to find out.

2) At MIT Sloan specifically, such loans are available from the MIT Federal Credit Union, covering the whole cost of tuition and the school's estimated living expenses, as shown on MIT Sloan's website. These living expenses are somewhat meagre, and don't include optional international treks, but it is possible to *survive* on them. The loan rate for international students without cosigner is US Prime + 2.75%, with a 0.25% discount if you set up automatic payments. US Prime is currently 3.25%. Full details are at: https://mitsloan.studentchoice.org/node/3

3) More broadly, studentchoice.org administers a lot of school loan programmes via Credit Unions. Searching Google for "School Name" site:studentchoice.org can bring up school-specific credit union results. (e.g. Harvard, Wharton). Note: It's not clear to me if all of these loans are directly linked to the school, or if some of them are independent initiatives. After all, MBA students are pretty bankable.

4) When doing this spreadsheet, consider:
- Are the rates variable or fixed? If they're variable, what are they tied to?
- Are there any Draw Fees?
- Can the principal balance be repaid at any time fee-free?

I have just received a letter from the NY Stern saying they do not provide no co-signer loans at the moment, though they are working on it...

updated info for INSEAD and Sloan

Looks like Columbia ceased offering non-cosigner loans for internationals and that is becoming a tendency among the top US schools (Stern). I am wondering why?

With MBA loan interest rates topping 6-7-8% in USD I don't think availability of money is the issue. US guys, what is a typical mortage/car loan rate? I'd assume around 3-4%? If so, for banks MBA loan shall appear more attractive than mortage or consumer credits.

My bet is that a defaul rate is growing steady, thus schools are facing more and more issues with unguaranteed unreturned loans, thus they are phasing out these programs.

Check this https://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolra ... kings-2011 (click on 'employment'). There are some REALLY SCARY numbers on employment among top school graduates. To name a few:
Duke - 77%
IMD - 83%
INSEAD - 82%
Ross - 78%
Wharton - 84 (!)

Also, there is intersting stat is on Salary increase. Looks like attending Haas, IMD and some other schools actually decreases your salary

some minor contribution:
- IMD in Switzerland offers a loan without a co-signer or a combination of such a loan and a scholarship to cover the most of the tuition fee (up to 65,000 francs out of 85,000).
https://www.imd.org/programs/mba/fees/IMD-MBA-Loans.cfm

- IESE in Barcelona offers the same scheme - any int. student may borrow up to 80% of the tuition fee that is 55.700 Euro out of 70.700 Euro. You are also eligible for scholarships but also only to cover tuition costs.
https://www.iese.edu/en/MBAPrograms/prog ... l_loan.asp

- IE in Madrid may offer a loan up to 30.000 Euro that is roughly half of the tuition fee. Another half you may cover with a scholarship, if you get one, of course.

In all the cases above the living costs are to be covered by students themselves. Of course, such expenses vary depending on the location and the duration of the program. E.g. IMD and IE programs are 11 and 13 months respectively, while IESE program is 20 months long. At the same time, I believe live in Switzerland is much more expensive than in Barcelona or Madrid.

I guess, this could be added to the excel chart with relevant notes.

here some questions I sent to the IE admissions and the answers I have just received today:

1) Did I understood correct from your web-site that an international student can take a loan from a Spanish bank without a Spanish co-signer up to the 30,000 Euro?
Yes, that’s right, unless you enroll a blended or part-time program.

2) If I get a loan, can I receive a scholarship from the IE as well?
Yes.

3) Is it possible to get a loan, a scholarship and a fellowship together?
No, IE loans can be accumulated to a scholarship or a fellowship, but students never receive more than a scholarship or more than a fellowship.

Simon School (University of Rochester, NY) also offers no co-signer loans (up to the sum of the tuition, living expenses not covered).

I believe that UNC (Kenan-Flagler) offers such loans too.

You can discount Columbia and Tuck from the "School credit w/o cosigners list". You are also expected to contribute with your own savings to fund your studies. So you rarely get a loan to cover 100% of two year budget. Most BSchools would limit to max 85% (K) to 90% (W). The truth is as an international, you might be less eligible to some scholarships and Financial Aid Officers tell internationals that there are fewer scholarships available.

The terms of a loan without co-signer is prohibitive with interest rates above standard loans. If possible, you may try to arrange loans from your home country, sth encouraged by financial aid officers.

Hey man,

We sit in the same boat when it comes to securing loans in home countries with less understanding educational finance. You know it, I know it but the financial aid officers don't want to hear it I dare you to tell this to financial aid officers when they fob you off with this standard useless advice.