Many business schools offer student loan assistance to grads who enter public sector jobs. Credits: EarthDayPictures via Flickr cc
Pervasive stereotypes paint MBA students as unapologetic, ethics-be-damned capitalists, arming themselves to improve their own lot by exploiting others.
Yet, many MBAs matriculate into business school with the expressed intention of using their education to drive positive change in nonprofit, environmental, and public sector jobs.
The ROI of positive change
Mission-driven MBA students have a sober understanding that the salaries commensurate with such noble pursuits will not likely justify the financial case for attending business school in the first place. Despite this, business school graduates by the thousands seek out and accept governmental, environmental, and public sector jobs with an eagerness to apply the skills honed during their MBA study.
The towering price of business school, along with all the associated expenses and opportunity costs, place a difficult burden on graduates, however. For most, student loans are the only way to make graduate business education possible, with many MBA students getting their diploma no sooner than making their first loan repayment. This burden unfortunately means that the world loses bright minds and bold hearts to private sector jobs that provide salaries with which the public sector can’t compete.
Student loan assistance for MBA students
To combat this brain-drain, a cadre of notable universities have begun subsidizing business school graduates post-commencement to encourage career paths in nonprofit, government, and public sector jobs.
Bloomberg Businessweek showcases six top-ranked business schools that offer such student loan assistance programs to their alumni: HBS, Stanford GSB, Wharton, CBS, Duke Fuqua, and Michigan Ross. While these schools are profiled due to their stature, the article lists them as being “among others” who have incentive programs that are “generally not well-known among business school students.”
Seeking financial help for public sector jobs
Here’s some advice for offsetting your investment in an MBA by receiving student loan assistance in exchange for giving something back to society:
- Find out if your prospective schools have these subsidy programs in place for graduates who accept positions with nonprofit.
- If you already have an MBA, it’s worthwhile to investigate potential financial incentives for social or environmental work because some institutions will allow alumni to apply for grants retroactively (e.g., Columbia accepts applications for up to five years after graduation).
- Seriously consider entering the nonprofit or public sector to drive positive change after graduation. It’s a prudent option for repaying your student loans—not to mention the fact that society could always use more business-minded professionals who value social impact over the bottom line.
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