This Top Business School Just Committed $5 Million for New MBA Scholarships
Credit: Barry Winiker / Getty Images- The Yale School of Management committed $5 million in new scholarship funds.
- The new Aspire Fellowships are for incoming MBA students who have “overcome significant socioeconomic disadvantages.”
- Scholarships will be awarded after admission.
- Yale has been working to boost access to its MBA program and earlier this year unveiled widespread application fee waivers.
A master of business administration (MBA) degree can lead to lucrative leadership roles, but getting one is an expensive endeavor.
An MBA program, especially at top schools, can cost well in excess of six figures. MBAs from elite business schools can lead to life-changing opportunities and a powerful return on investment for students. But the high cost associated with the popular graduate business degrees can hamper students’ access.
The Yale School of Management (SOM) is taking steps to make its MBA program more affordable.
Yale recently announced $5 million in scholarship funds for a new “Aspire Fellowships” program aimed at incoming MBA students. These scholarships will be for students “who have overcome significant socioeconomic disadvantages,” according to a press release.
“Our mission of educating leaders for business and society calls on us to prepare our students for addressing some of the most daunting challenges facing us on the planet,” Anjani Jain, Yale SOM’s deputy dean for academic programs, said in the release.
“The mission compels us to attract to our programs the most talented students from all parts of the world regardless of their financial wherewithal, socioeconomic antecedents, or the disparities of opportunity resulting from the accident of birth.”
Individual awards for the Aspire Fellowships program will range from $60,000 to covering full tuition and fees for the program. The awards will be determined after admission, and much of the required information to apply will come from students’ MBA applications, according to the release.
Yale’s MBA degree costs $85,400 in total tuition and fees for the 2024-2025 academic year, according to the program website.
The average total MBA cost is about $62,600 for a full two-year program, BestColleges previously reported. Full-time, in-person programs usually cost more than part-time, online programs.
Top-ranked private university programs like Yale often cost more than many programs, with the schools’ tuition and fees alone typically ranging between $83,000 and $90,000 yearly.
The Aspire Fellowships are only Yale’s most recent bid to make its MBA program more accessible.
The school earlier this summer unveiled widespread application fee waivers. Prospective students can now receive application fee waivers if they are currently enrolled at or alumni of almost 700 schools that have significant initiatives to promote economic diversity.
Yale also expanded its MBA application’s background information section to “allow applicants to provide more contextual information about the individual circumstances in which they’ve lived, studied, and worked,” Yale SOM Assistant Dean for Admissions Bruce DelMonico wrote at the time.
MBA scholarships are one of several options available for students to pay for their MBA aside from taking out loans.
Some companies also sponsor MBA candidates, offering tuition reimbursement to their employees as they pursue the degree. Getting an MBA is generally linked to higher earnings, BestColleges previously reported — although it might take time to see a long-term return on investment.