It is well know that tuitions, fees and expenses for MBA programs are very high. For international students, especially students from third world such as China and India, the situation is even worse. Unfortunately, there are very limited scholarship, assistantship or any other types of financial aid resources that are available for international students. Scholarships for international students are very competitive.

To secure scholarship you must work hard and work smart. Please read through Go to Business School for Free: A Scholarship & Assistantship Application Guide. This article from BusinessWeek is very instructional. Most principles apply for international students even though it was originally written for US students.

Following are some other resources you may want to explorer:

  1. Contact your MBA program provider to see if they can give you any useful information.
  2. Your home country government may have scholarships. Check the websites of related goverment departments such as Ministry of Education and Ministry of Foreign Fairs; call them if you have no clue.
  3. Contact international students currently enrolled in that program in person for suggestion.
  4. Contact graduates from that program, especially graduates from your mother country or now living in your home country.
  5. Register your email to receive newsletters, posters or flyers.
  6. Talk to visiting professors, scholars.
  7. Start job hunting right after you arrive at USA. Check local businesses to see if they have conditional scholarship for their potential employees.

Particular tips  for international students.

  1. Scholarship is not the only way you can support yourself. Assistantship is a choice if you need money. In fact this is the major way international students support themselves. Think of yourself: what skills you have? If you have skills in computer programming, statistics or high science lab skills you can find yourself popular in campus job market.
  2. Think of student loan. For high reputed MBA programs you can get student loan even if you are not a US citizen.

If you are interested in student loans, please read Student Loan Oppurtunity For International MBA Students.