Which firms on wall street pay for (or help you) get an MBA? - Deciding between a few firms for an analyst role

Im deciding between a few firms for an Analyst offer, and I was wondering if any companies are known for either helping to pay for an MBA or sponsoring you to do so. Which companies are the most dedicated to employee advancement? Thanks so much!!

 

Keep in mind that most banks, if they have a tuition reimbursement policy, have conditions. Even the most generous I have heard of and with first hand knowledge of require that: 1. You still work full time and must take classes at night. This means if you are in NYC, Stern is your only real option (CBS does not have part time, only EMBA, which is for people with 7-10 years expeirence) 2. Tuition reimbursments are taxed very heavily (basically 40%)

Basically, I don't think you should decide where you want to be based on the possiblity of getting 60% of your NYU Stern MBA paid for while you bust your hump at work and try to go to school. Better to think about which firm has better reputations for b-school placement and which group you like better.

There may be more generous programs out there but this is the policy in at least two BBs I know of.

 
Boothorbust:
2. Tuition reimbursments are taxed very heavily (basically 40%)

That's like saying that bonuses are taxed heavily. Long answer short - no they are not. They are only taxed up to your marginal rate - i.e. it just get added as wage for your tax filing purposes. Sure it's taxed, but you are paying your tuition/student loan with post-tax money anyway unless you are using 529 in its entirety.

 

I've been told CS does by an associate there. You can do a full-time MBA as long as you sign on to come back for two years afterward. I would get someone else to confirm this though.

 
JWR34:
I've been told CS does by an associate there. You can do a full-time MBA as long as you sign on to come back for two years afterward. I would get someone else to confirm this though.

I'm a little confused as to why the fuck you would work in banking, leave for 2 years to get a worthless MBA only to come back and work as an Associate, a position you could easily have gotten anyway, and you would be a year behind... what would be the point of this?

 

midnight - you are right that they are taxed up to your marginal tax rate, but 50-70K of tuition is enought to put a lot of people into the next tax bracket. After state and federal taxes the reimbursement on tution approaches a 40% tax rate (probably closer to high 30's, point is you aren't getting newar the full amount paid for).

On the point of paying tuition/student loan with post-tax money - this is a good point, but important to note also that interest on student debt is tax free (up to some max, don't remember what).

 
tennisball02:
which companies are you deciding between? that may help people give you better answers

im deciding between jp morgan and barclays. both pay pretty equally, and i really like both firms. i've just been looking at the little details now to try and make a final decision. i do want to purse an MBA eventually, but I dont want to risk losing my spot in one of these firms.

 
shorttheworld:
the interest on student loans is deductible if you make less than 70k a year..
I make more than that and have deducted mine the past two years.

I am married though, so I guess that makes a difference.

Can't vouch for the 70k limit for single people. Per the IRS website there is an annual limit, not sure what it is.

 

I am totally against MBA funded by companies ! You will have to stay at the company for like 2-3 years post-MBA whilst everyone else in your MBA class will be excited to discover new paths, new careers, new opportunities and you'll feel terrible ! (in most cases...)....frankly I don't see the benefit...you can certainly save enough in banking or consulting to repay the MBA within a few years...

 
antmavel:
I am totally against MBA funded by companies ! You will have to stay at the company for like 2-3 years post-MBA whilst everyone else in your MBA class will be excited to discover new paths, new careers, new opportunities and you'll feel terrible ! (in most cases...)....frankly I don't see the benefit...you can certainly save enough in banking or consulting to repay the MBA within a few years...
What if you like your current job though? Say you work in a F500 business development job (IBD.
 
Best Response
neanderthal:
antmavel:
I am totally against MBA funded by companies ! You will have to stay at the company for like 2-3 years post-MBA whilst everyone else in your MBA class will be excited to discover new paths, new careers, new opportunities and you'll feel terrible ! (in most cases...)....frankly I don't see the benefit...you can certainly save enough in banking or consulting to repay the MBA within a few years...
What if you like your current job though? Say you work in a F500 business development job (IBD.

Where does that get you? It isn't going to be "rat race free" if you are trying to go from a chill career to a more difficult, higher paying one. People don't do the MBA after IB as an exit opp, they do it because they are burned out and figure that they will take 2 years and then go into PE... but it has a monstrous opportunity cost, and like college is starting to get to a point where it is difficult to justify its value if you are already in the industry. A lot of networking will get you the same opportunity as the $150K debt you would incur, not to mention the lost wages and lost work experience to take off. The opportunity cost is huge. It makes sense for career changers, or if you are at a great PE firm and they say go and get your MBA so that you have the proper pedigree and then we will hire you back on a partner track... those are really the only cases where it is worth the cost.

 
neanderthal:
antmavel:
I am totally against MBA funded by companies ! You will have to stay at the company for like 2-3 years post-MBA whilst everyone else in your MBA class will be excited to discover new paths, new careers, new opportunities and you'll feel terrible ! (in most cases...)....frankly I don't see the benefit...you can certainly save enough in banking or consulting to repay the MBA within a few years...
What if you like your current job though? Say you work in a F500 business development job (IBD.

Where does that get you? It isn't going to be "rat race free" if you are trying to go from a chill career to a more difficult, higher paying one. People don't do the MBA after IB as an exit opp, they do it because they are burned out and figure that they will take 2 years and then go into PE... but it has a monstrous opportunity cost, and like college is starting to get to a point where it is difficult to justify its value if you are already in the industry. A lot of networking will get you the same opportunity as the $150K debt you would incur, not to mention the lost wages and lost work experience to take off. The opportunity cost is huge. It makes sense for career changers, or if you are at a great PE firm and they say go and get your MBA so that you have the proper pedigree and then we will hire you back on a partner track... those are really the only cases where it is worth the cost.

 

In Bschool currently. I know that MS/CS do, but am not sure if they will for much longer. I don't think you should base your decision on this though. What if you end up hating banking? Move to PE? Leave for another BB?

Don't think this should be a deciding factor for you.

 

I know they do this for the "better" bankers since they want to keep them on board. Hence why they give them a "free" MBA but force them to work under contract so the $ they spent on their MBA's becomes marginal. So basically, if a company offers to pay for your MBA it means you're doing something right.

 

The BB's above don't differentiate between directly sourced associates from the MBA program and analysts going to B school ( as far as paying MBA fees is concerned). That been said, the assumption here is that the school is a top line one. They would still pay for second rung schools ( such as Manchester Business School in Europe/ Yale in US) but the enthusiasm is lower...just a soft factor.

 

I know UBS does for full-time as do a number of other BB's I believe. You have to apply in the spring before you start b-school and I think you owe them two years plus internship. As far as I know you don't have to work at the bank though. It's basically a way for them to lure MBA's much earlier in the process.

 

Do either of the two people who mentioned UBS's program work there? I am starting with them full time in June and would like to talk to someone from UBS. If so, and you want to talk, please send me a private message.

Also, for the topic of the forum, do the companies pay for you directly and then make you pay back if you leave, or do they require you to put up the money and then reimburse?

 

Merrill will pay for your MBA and actually consider you for an advanced standing - 2nd year associate. I think UBS pays for bschool as well, but again you have to commit to x years after bschool.

As for part-time, this is only possible if you are in ops or other less hourly intensive divisions. Since you posted this is the ibanking forum, lets just say theres no way in hell your gonna be doing a part-time MBA while working in investment banking.

 

hmm just wanted to reopen this old thread, and see if any of the BBs still have the same policies geared towards MBAs for their employees? Say you are working at a BB and decide that you want to do a MBA but have no qualms of returning back to your old firm, will your co still sponsor it?

Particularly interested in MS/Citi/ML/JPM regarding this. Thanks guys!

 

I believe some still do offer it as well, but it might not be advertised very broadly. In the end, it doesn't really matter since these kinds of programs are only offered to third year analysts who have been offered a direct promote to associate (or associates who were previously directly promoted and have not gotten their MBA's yet). I'm sure that if you are offered a direct A to A promote, your firm will talk to you about this when the time comes.

 

none give a crap about employee advancement. why? because there is always someone else wanting to take your spot and there isn't much you offer at the analyst level for company to pay for you to leave the firm for two years..if they want you they'll just promote you directly to an associate...assuming you are talking about IBD

 

I have been wondering the same thing - outside of consulting firms and I-banking, does anyone know of any large companies offering formal (full) reimbursement programs to top talent for Full-Time MBA pursuit? minimum 2 year work commitment would be expected, but just curious if this sort of thing took place outside of the consulting world and in broader corporate America.

 

In my country (south europe), BCG sponsors its top performers (30%). Also McK and ATK still sponsor a quite large part of their people. PwC Consulting in London sponsors its top performers but I don't know how many they are. Some PE mega-fund do the same. I've never heard of european corporates with a structured MBA sponsorship program for their employees.

I'm grateful that I have two middle fingers, I only wish I had more.
 

This is pretty limited to consulting and to some extent IB, though of course there are some companies who have such policies for certain "rising star" employees or employees on a certain track.

I'm curious as to if the pay is docked.

"They are all former investment bankers that were laid off in the economic collapse that Nancy Pelosi caused. They have no marketable skills, but by God they work hard."
 
wonkooldewd:
happypants, I'm new here but I looked at your profile and couldn't tell who "we" is ... ??
Yea, thats kinda the point. Top 10 bank in the US
If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
 

Thank you! I'll look into these ... I'm curious because I'm working on a proposal for my company at the moment and trying to see if there's any precedent outside of consulting and PE/I-banking.

 

I have a question with regard to the 2 year commitment that the company may require after earning an MBA.

For example:

If an employee works for an engineering company and then earns an MBA that is paid for by the company and then returns to the company for the required 2 years, is that employee disadvantaged when trying to get a job at an Investment Bank after the 2 year term is over? Would he be better off paying for the degree himself in order to be recruited by IB directly after completing the MBA?

 

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