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Since the onset of the Great Recession, professionals in troubled industries have often come to view times of instability as a chance to step away and pursue an MBA.
The idea being that the qualification can strengthen opportunities for progression in an existing field or, alternatively, that it can open up new avenues of employment elsewhere.
However, an MBA is still a substantial investment and the persistence of dour financial climates over the past few years has undoubtedly contributed to rising levels of interest for MBA scholarships.
This article takes a look at trends affecting MBA scholarships in Europe and seeks advice on how to go about securing financial aid from Italy’s SDA Bocconi School of Management.
Hunt for scholarships in Europe heightens among applicants
The availability of financial aid has become second only to international recognition as the most popular reason informing prospective MBA students’ choice of study location, according to the QS Applicant Survey 2014.
This means that, in past year alone, funding considerations have leapfrogged ‘would like to work there afterwards’ and ‘cultural interest and lifestyle’ as reasons informing prospective MBA students’ choice of study location.
Rising interest in MBA scholarships in Europe can be seen as symptomatic of the way in which economies have been affected in this era, even among those that have since witnessed a recovery. Indeed, candidates from traditionally affluent nations are now much more likely to be resting their hopes on securing a scholarship:
“I would say that request for financial aid increased in recent years, also from nationalities that in the past more rarely enquired for it, such as the US and Western Europe,” says Laura Russo with MBA recruiting and admissions at SDA Bocconi School of Management.
Russo says that 40% of a typical MBA program intake at SDA Bocconi has received funding directly through the school – be it a scholarship or a loan secured through an official partnership.
MBA program loans can be harder to come by
In some quarters, loans for an MBA program of study have become more elusive too, as banks make safeguards that limit who they are willing to lend to. At SDA Bocconi, this change has been particularly felt by those wishing to study in Europe who are from outside of the region.
Developments such as these serve only to increase some candidates’ reliance on securing grants or MBA scholarships in Europe.
In Bocconi’s case, a perceived shortfall in loan availability caused the school to sign up to a pilot scheme with Prodigy Finance which is designed to help international students access up to 80% of tuition costs for an MBA program. With some of its current students already invested in the pilot, SDA Bocconi believes that many more will be able to access funds in this way next year.
Increasing demand for financial aid doesn’t make it impossible to find
When prospective MBA students in Western Europe choose which business school they wish to attend, financial aid availability currently stands as second only to a school’s reputation in their decision-making process. In Eastern Europe, it’s the number one consideration.
Rising interest might make the search for scholarship funding a more competitive environment on the whole, but that doesn’t make it impossible to secure – especially if your research into the best school for your individual profile and background has been thorough.
The extent to which scholarship criteria can vary between schools in Europe is hard to verify, as much will come down to the opinions of individual admissions teams. However, it is generally thought that different schools are interested in different kinds of candidates.
Indeed, it’s clear that schools will, in their scholarship choices, be looking for people they believe to be perfect additions to a particular program.
MBA scholarships are about adding excellence says SDA Bocconi
Russo believes MBA scholarships should be awarded to candidates who are exceptional all-round packages - encompassing academics, professional experience as well as personal skills and international exposure.
“The candidates being offered a scholarship are really those that, I would say, all schools would like to have in their MBA environment,” she says, adding that SDA Bocconi’s admissions team fundamentally search for those with the potential to be “winning personalities within the MBA and even more importantly after it, in their professional life.”
Rewarding excellence in MBA scholarships doesn’t just benefit the individual. It should also offer “something significant for the rest of the class,” in Russo’s opinion. “They can take advantage of the fact that brilliant students are part of the MBA class.”
Schools are much more likely to offer this kind of merit-based funding, as opposed to needs-based, because, as Russo explains: “Need is very difficult to ascertain.”
Personal touch can aid prospective MBA students’ case
Russo underlines the need to factor living costs into the equation, and asks in particular for candidates to remember to budget for the fact that pursuing a full-time one-year MBA program entails a loss in employment earnings for its duration.
In terms of the right way to go about winning scholarship funding, it seems the personal touch can go a long way to showing a school that you mean business – and that their institution is the place where you belong.
Russo says that taking the time to connect with school representatives at an admissions event or during a school visit can be to a candidate’s great advantage:
“Let us appreciate their motivation, maturity, interpersonal skills even before they sit for the selection interview.”
This also means planning ahead – not only so that every applicable source of financial aid is still available but also so that you can feel secure in the knowledge that you have found the right MBA program to meet your individual aims and ambitions.
Tim is a writer with a background in consumer journalism and charity communications. He trained as a journalist in the UK and holds degrees in history (BA) and Latin American studies (MA).
MBA Scholarships in Europe: Advice and Trends
By Tim Dhoul
Updated UpdatedSince the onset of the Great Recession, professionals in troubled industries have often come to view times of instability as a chance to step away and pursue an MBA.
The idea being that the qualification can strengthen opportunities for progression in an existing field or, alternatively, that it can open up new avenues of employment elsewhere.
However, an MBA is still a substantial investment and the persistence of dour financial climates over the past few years has undoubtedly contributed to rising levels of interest for MBA scholarships.
This article takes a look at trends affecting MBA scholarships in Europe and seeks advice on how to go about securing financial aid from Italy’s SDA Bocconi School of Management.
Hunt for scholarships in Europe heightens among applicants
This means that, in past year alone, funding considerations have leapfrogged ‘would like to work there afterwards’ and ‘cultural interest and lifestyle’ as reasons informing prospective MBA students’ choice of study location.
Rising interest in MBA scholarships in Europe can be seen as symptomatic of the way in which economies have been affected in this era, even among those that have since witnessed a recovery. Indeed, candidates from traditionally affluent nations are now much more likely to be resting their hopes on securing a scholarship:
“I would say that request for financial aid increased in recent years, also from nationalities that in the past more rarely enquired for it, such as the US and Western Europe,” says Laura Russo with MBA recruiting and admissions at SDA Bocconi School of Management.
Russo says that 40% of a typical MBA program intake at SDA Bocconi has received funding directly through the school – be it a scholarship or a loan secured through an official partnership.
MBA program loans can be harder to come by
In some quarters, loans for an MBA program of study have become more elusive too, as banks make safeguards that limit who they are willing to lend to. At SDA Bocconi, this change has been particularly felt by those wishing to study in Europe who are from outside of the region.
Developments such as these serve only to increase some candidates’ reliance on securing grants or MBA scholarships in Europe.
In Bocconi’s case, a perceived shortfall in loan availability caused the school to sign up to a pilot scheme with Prodigy Finance which is designed to help international students access up to 80% of tuition costs for an MBA program. With some of its current students already invested in the pilot, SDA Bocconi believes that many more will be able to access funds in this way next year.
Increasing demand for financial aid doesn’t make it impossible to find
When prospective MBA students in Western Europe choose which business school they wish to attend, financial aid availability currently stands as second only to a school’s reputation in their decision-making process. In Eastern Europe, it’s the number one consideration.
Rising interest might make the search for scholarship funding a more competitive environment on the whole, but that doesn’t make it impossible to secure – especially if your research into the best school for your individual profile and background has been thorough.
The extent to which scholarship criteria can vary between schools in Europe is hard to verify, as much will come down to the opinions of individual admissions teams. However, it is generally thought that different schools are interested in different kinds of candidates.
Indeed, it’s clear that schools will, in their scholarship choices, be looking for people they believe to be perfect additions to a particular program.
MBA scholarships are about adding excellence says SDA Bocconi
“The candidates being offered a scholarship are really those that, I would say, all schools would like to have in their MBA environment,” she says, adding that SDA Bocconi’s admissions team fundamentally search for those with the potential to be “winning personalities within the MBA and even more importantly after it, in their professional life.”
Rewarding excellence in MBA scholarships doesn’t just benefit the individual. It should also offer “something significant for the rest of the class,” in Russo’s opinion. “They can take advantage of the fact that brilliant students are part of the MBA class.”
Schools are much more likely to offer this kind of merit-based funding, as opposed to needs-based, because, as Russo explains: “Need is very difficult to ascertain.”
Personal touch can aid prospective MBA students’ case
Russo underlines the need to factor living costs into the equation, and asks in particular for candidates to remember to budget for the fact that pursuing a full-time one-year MBA program entails a loss in employment earnings for its duration.
In terms of the right way to go about winning scholarship funding, it seems the personal touch can go a long way to showing a school that you mean business – and that their institution is the place where you belong.
Russo says that taking the time to connect with school representatives at an admissions event or during a school visit can be to a candidate’s great advantage:
“Let us appreciate their motivation, maturity, interpersonal skills even before they sit for the selection interview.”
This also means planning ahead – not only so that every applicable source of financial aid is still available but also so that you can feel secure in the knowledge that you have found the right MBA program to meet your individual aims and ambitions.
Find out more about studying an MBA in Europe using region and country guides for the continent.
This article was originally published in . It was last updated in
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Tim is a writer with a background in consumer journalism and charity communications. He trained as a journalist in the UK and holds degrees in history (BA) and Latin American studies (MA).
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