How to get an MBA bursary

An MBA degree doesn’t come cheap. SA programme fees in 2019 range from R93,700 to R322,040 — figures that may be substantially larger for foreign students.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that there are dozens of scholarships available for deserving students. Oh, but wait. There’s more bad news. Not all business schools want you to know about the financial help on offer.

Quoted fees are for the duration of the programme, whether one year or three years. Most schools offer payment terms or steer students towards suitable financial institutions.

Even so, given the intensity of a programme, committing to an MBA is not for the faint-hearted or impecunious, particularly if you are a full-time student with no income while you study.

Some employers contribute to costs if they see an eventual benefit to themselves. Of the 1,210 MBA graduates who contributed to market research for this cover story, half had corporate sponsorship. Of those, about 60% received full sponsorship, 30% got partial financial help and the rest were granted paid study leave.

However, business confidence and the economy are weaker today than when many of those sponsorship decisions were made, so companies are less willing to pay.

"The corporate appetite to fund has definitely declined," says Nicola Kleyn, dean of the Gordon Institute of Business Science.

Businesses might change their minds, says the school’s academic programmes head, Louise Whittaker, if they were aware of some of the benefits of sponsorship.

"I don’t think employers understand how designated students can help them claim back skills levies and help with broad-based BEE levels," she says.

Rhodes Business School director Owen Skae agrees: "Corporate SA has not taken time to understand there are tax benefits and Seta [Sector Education & Training Authority] funding to sponsor people for an MBA."

Several schools have scholarship and bursary funds but most like to identify candidates for themselves rather than encourage applications. Regenesys, for example, offers financial support for up to 20 students, but does not publicise this "or we would be flooded with applications", says CEO Leoni Grobler.

Wits Business School MBA programme head Renee Horne has a similar message. "Students are aware that we offer a number of scholarships but we don’t go out and market them."

Some schools may find corporate sponsors to support part of a programme — for example, by underwriting the costs of selected students on overseas study visits.

For others, the problem is convincing bursary committees that MBAs are a sensible use of money. At IIE MSA (formerly Monash), school director HB Klopper says the parent university directs most funds elsewhere.

At Milpark, dean Cobus Oosthuizen says there is no dedicated MBA budget. Instead, the Stadio group, which owns Milpark, considers applications across its educational holdings.

"If [Stadio] can give bursaries to five bachelor’s students for the same price as one MBA, why wouldn’t it?" he asks. "It’s about the bigger social impact."

Some schools have ring-fenced financial aid. The Management College of Southern Africa set aside R3m last year for student support across its various programmes. Henley Africa offers 30 annual MBA scholarships in fields as diverse as investigative journalism, social awareness, education and the creative industries.

Dean Jon Foster-Pedley hopes soon to add one for sportsmen and -women "so they can provide the leadership that our sporting environment needs".

Most Henley bursaries are awarded to people who can change society, he says. "We would like to offer something for teachers. And why not older entrepreneurs? Experience shows their businesses have a greater chance of survival and they employ more young people."

Many full scholarships have traditionally been reserved for full-time MBA students, who have to give up work while they study. But more students are now opting for part-time and online studies. Wits plans to halt its full-time MBA after this year and is "reviewing a number of options regarding the bursary scheme".

The University of Stellenbosch Business School plans to continue with its full-time MBA and the scholarships that accompany it, says programme head Martin Butler. "We are also launching a full scholarship for a woman student."

Overseas, particularly in the US, successful alumni are a major source of scholarship funding. The idea has never really taken hold in SA but the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business has launched a programme encouraging each alumnus to sponsor one MBA student during their lifetime. An appeal to the class of 1967/1968 has already yielded three bursaries, and a family trust endowment another three. "We are fundraising for bursaries all the time," says programme head Segran Nair.

There are other sources of support. Some financial institutions will pay the fees of students attending schools whose alumni have a history of rapid career progress. In return, they will take a percentage of the beneficiary’s salary at a certain seniority level. Some philanthropic individuals or entities also commit funds to business education. So do some local professional bodies.

Ultimately, though, says Regent Business School head Ahmed Shaikh, the solution is for MBA courses to become affordable. "Most MBA students are ordinary South Africans trying to make a difference. Students who represent the future of SA should not have to go into debt. It’s a terrible indictment of [the] business school community."