How to fund your MBA

MBA is in high demand in today’s world and can promise a lucrative career. But as we all know every good thing comes with a price. The price tag for MBA often tends to be beyond an individual’s reach. In order to make your dream come true you must plan well in advance. Admission fee, hostel fee, library fee, food, books, and other expenses during your study tenure can be sky rocketing and you must arrange for the required funds.

The best option to fund your MBA is through loans. Using family savings for funding your higher education is not a wise decision. The first step while applying for education loan is to calculate various costs like Tuition fees, Residential Costs (in case you have to stay in a hostel), Food, clothing, etc. Usually, loans for under Rs. 4 Lac do not need security deposits. A third party guarantee (signature from parent/uncle/aunt/relative) is required for loans amounting between 4 and 7.5 Lacs. Above this amount you’ll need to provide collateral for securing a loan.

With each year, MBA programmes are becoming costlier. The average cost of 2-3 lakhs a few years ago has become 5-6 lakhs a year in recent times and there are top-ranked Indian B-schools where the average cost is more than 10 lakhs. So to ensure that deserving students get equal opportunity, quite a few institutes and trusts offer support through merit-cum-need based scholarships, bursaries, topper discounts and complete fee waivers. You can think of these options apart from education loan.

There are B-schools in India which provide complete or partial waiver to selected students through various financial aids and scholarships.

Institutes like Amity Business School, Indus Business Academy, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Lucknow, IRMA, ISB, MDI, National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai, NMIMS School of Business Management, SRM School of Management, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research, Mumbai, etc. offer students with financial assistance in various forms of financial aids and scholarships.

Some of these are as follows:

100 percent Scholarship: Candidates who obtain minimum 93 percent aggregate marks (excluding Physical Education, Fine Arts & Performing Arts) in Class 12 CBSE/ICSE Board and 80 percent marks in graduation are eligible.

50 percent Scholarship: For students who secure 88 percent marks and above in aggregate in Class 12 CBSE/ICSE and 75 percent marks in their graduation.

Things to consider while securing an education loan:
The most important point that you have to check while securing a loan is the number of years provided to repay the loan. You should estimate the amount of monthly instalments and see if it fits your requirements.
Loans come with interest rates. So the next step is to calculate the interest rate and see how much you’ll have to pay at the end of your study. There are fixed and floating rates of interest. The type of interest rate can make a big difference at the time of repayment so make sure to check the rules related to the interest rates.
Many loan providing institutions and banks require you to pay processing charges when you take a loan. Check the amount of processing charges and if there are any hidden charges involved.
Next important point to confirm is if there would be any charges in case you wish to repay the loan early. For example, instead of paying the loan in instalments over five years; you wish to pay the remaining amount in one go after two years.
Check the documents that you have to submit for availing the loan. Confirm with the institute or bank whether you have to provide all the original documents or will photocopies suffice.

Another way to fund your MBA is via scholarships. There are government and non-government organizations that provide various scholarships to students for pursuing MBA. In India many colleges also provide tuition fees waivers for students belonging to OBC, SC/ST, etc. 50% or more fees are waived by colleges depending upon your caste. So if you belong to these minority categories, the fee waiver can be a lot of help and you’ll need only a fraction of the actual amount to fund your MBA. Some colleges run by Gujarati, Christian, Parsi, etc. trusts/organisations also have waivers for students belonging to their communities and also provide financial help in the form of loans or scholarships. So while selecting the universities for MBA, make sure to check if the college/institute is run by any trust.