MBA Financial Aid

Financial aid for MBA students can be extremely confusing. I have started this thread in the spirit of other threads on this website to MBA applicants understand the basics of financing their degrees.

While most schools would cringe at the comparison, the academic market is broadly similar to the market for new cars at most dealershipsin that the list price is merely the starting point from which various price adjustment are made. We will discuss some of these adjustments below.

Assistantship: The student works a limited number of hours a week for the school in exchange for lower tuition and a stipend (the specific compensation structure varies by the school). The assisantship could involve assisting in the teaching of a class or assisting the professor with research. Assistantships can dramatically reduce one's tuition, especially in the case of public universities that allow assistants to pay the "in-state" tuition rate.

Fellowship: Similar to a scholarship, sometimes with more extensive application requirements. At some schools fellowships include full tuition and a stipend and other schools fellowship and scholarship are used interchangeably.

Grant: Funds the recipient is not obligated to pay back. Contrast this with a student loan.

Scholarship: A scholarship is a price adjustment in which the student is not expected to work for the school. Scholarships often include GPA requirements that students must satisfy while in the MBA program. Typical scholarships are academic (based on prior grades or GMAT) or demographic (the applicant belongs to an under-represented group that the school is seeking to recruit)

Note that these different price adjustments can be combined so that a student can receive both a scholarship and an assistantship and thereby reduce expenses even further.

In addition, note that some price adjustments are available only to citizens or permanent residents.