Company sponsored MBA's

How long do you typically need to work at a company that has an MBA sponsorship program before you are eligible for it (ie how long do you need to work at a company before they will pay for/subsidize an MBA)? Specifically in IB.

52 Comments
 

I believe this is, even in the USA, very uncommon and becoming even less and less common. Outside of the USA, this almost doesn't exist.

Employers have realized that (1) their employees don't really need MBAs and (2) even if they would prefer to show their potential clients some folks with MBA credentials, there are already enough candidates around who have already gone through MBA (with their own wallets) and are now hungry for employment.

Go East, Young Man
 
Best Response
Asia_i_Banker

I believe this is, even in the USA, very uncommon and becoming even less and less common. Outside of the USA, this almost doesn't exist.

Employers have realized that (1) their employees don't really need MBAs and (2) even if they would prefer to show their potential clients some folks with MBA credentials, there are already enough candidates around who have already gone through MBA (with their own wallets) and are now hungry for employment.

>Outside of the USA, this almost doesn't exist.

Where are your sources for this statement? Just off the top of my head, in Japan, large companies and banks routinely send off high-potential employees to the US (and sometimes Europe, e.g. INSEAD) to get their MBAs. Tuition is 100% covered by the firm.

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, Japanese employees who got their MBAs overseas would usually return to the Company and stay with them forever/until retirement, but now the trend is for these young Japanese MBA holders to ditch their former companies and go into banking, consulting, private equity, etc.

Whether or not this new trend will cause Japanese companies to rethink their policy of subsidizing MBAs for their employees remains to be seen.

 

The more common trend, and this probably doesn't happen in IB either, is for places to give you tuition reimbursement so you can take a class or two a year on their dime. But you have to pay up front and they give you the money once you show you passed with a good grade.

make it hard to spot the general by working like a soldier
 

My firm has TA which you can use after 6 months or so and also an MBA sponsor program for top performers who have been there at least 2 yrs.

 

This is very uncommon now. I do know of some industrial companies (i.e. J&J) that still have reimbursement programs, but even they cut down substantially within the last couple years.

 

Thanks. My bank's employee handbook had something I read about MBA sponsorship that I'm curious to know about (but don't want to ask them yet, as I'm still only heading into a SA- albeit one where the strong implication was the FT offer is already mine if I don't fuck up royally; ours, I'm sure, for every intern they picked) but maybe it's just tuition reimbursement.

 

Lots of MBB people get sponsored for MBAs. Just look at placement stats for the programs, some list numbers of sponsored. Other than that, some F500 for certain positions.

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These programs still exist at blue chip companies, although the days of full tuition reimbursement are past us. I know someone who works in Corporate Strategy / Marketing at Kaiser Permanente, who was offered tuition reimbursement. However, she had to commit to four years at Kaiser post-MBA. I'm not entirely sure how the reimbursement works. Perhaps she was paid 25% tuition each year?

I also know Parthenon Group sponsors full-time MBA as well.

 

Never seen it in IB, with the exception of Baird. They have a 'Baird Scholar' program that a few of the people that interviewed me there had gone through. Many F500 companies have something like this. Most of them like to keep you employed while you go through one of the night and weekend programs that many of the top schools are now offering. This limits your options a bit, but if you work in NYC, Chicago, DC, Houston or Southern California you can go to Stern, Columbia, G-Town, Darden, Rice or Anderson. Pretty damn good options....

 

Does adcom favor company-sponsored applicants? I'd imagine yes as those students boost career placements stats and foster strong relationships with those firms. With that said I dont see adcom going out of their way for a student who is in the lower 20% of both their gpa and gmat ranges.

 

They wouldn't know unless you told them, and at my old firm, we were advised not to tell them, since it might dissuade them from giving you any scholarships...which would just get tacked on and wouldn't get subtracted from your sponsorship.

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It's not common, although in good job markets (i.e. not now), some banks will do it after the fact -- in other words, they won't offer anything as you leave for b-school, but what has happened in the past is that if you decide to come back to the same bank post-MBA, some ex-analysts have been able to get the bank to agree to paying for the tuition.

Like anything in life, it's all negotiable - so long as you ask.

Alex Chu www.mbaapply.com
 

I have no clue why would anyone need MBA for I-Banking.

I understand that it is useful if one wants to switch careers, break into different industries etc. but if you want to stay in banking (and at the same bank!), it is pretty much useless.

 
animalzI have no clue why would anyone need MBA for I-Banking.

I understand that it is useful if one wants to switch careers, break into different industries etc. but if you want to stay in banking (and at the same bank!), it is pretty much useless.

Because not all firms allow you to move from Analyst to Associate.

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Yeah. and if you were middle bucket or better, your group will want you back. If you really want to be an associate, look for banks with lots of A to A promotes, it'll save you a couple years on the long climb to MD. From what I've heard, GS is leading the charge on this now with several of the better boutiques not far behind.

 

A guy from UBS (Associate, Europe) left for a 2 yrs MSc in Economics and he is going back there next summer as VP... Unique story I think...

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

Do you mean post-mba employer paying for your entire MBA or a pre-MBA employer sponsoring you through the program and paying your tuition? Because while the latter is somewhat common (especially for consulting firms, there were significant # of sponsored MBB students in my class), signing bonus have come down quite a bit and even in the best case scenario, it won't cover one year of tuition.

 

I meant a pre-MBA employer sponsoring an MBA. How common is it in other fields? I ask because I know I my family will contribute X dollars to my college. I'm torn between going to a target and having all of that money (probably plus some debt) go to my undergrad, then having to pay for MBA, or going to a semi-target on good scholarships and having whatever's left over for grad school. Ideally, I'd go to a target and land one of these. Any advice?

 

The above was my experience. My sponsored classmates were either 1) MBB + Deloitte consultants or 2) worked for large, foreign companies such as Samsung, MUFJ, etc. I didn't hear of anyone sponsored by U.S. financial institution, though I suppose it happens on some occasions. From what I remember, only ~10% of students are sponsored, so it's not that common.

 

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