Business School Fellowships and Scholarships: Every Student's Dream!
The world of business school fellowships, scholarships, and grants is limited and frustrating. Basically, fellowships, scholarships, and grants are financial awards that do not need to be repaid. They're "free money" designed to allow those who merit money – the poor, the underprivileged, and the talented – to go to business school. So far so good, right?
The mess becomes apparent once you dig deeper. The first damning characteristic is the variety of funding sources, ranging from governments, universities, and private foundations. There are (literally) hundreds of such awards and no central repository for such information. In other words, there isn't a simple, efficient way to search a complete database of funding sources.
Many deadlines for outside funding are early, so we recommend that you work on your funding requests at the same time as you're working on your business school applications. Don't wait until after you've submitted your applications.
Given the mess that business school fellowships and scholarships represent, we've taken a stab at compiling a list of the most useful sources of funding. After you've gone through this list, take a look at the two search engines that we mention. Between them all, you'll have a chance of finding something. Just don't expect it to be easy.
Funding for Minority / Special Status Students
If you're African American, Hispanic, Native American, ex-military, LGBT, female, there are funding sources earmarked for you. These fellowships are awarded based on need, merit, or both. Below is a non-exhaustive list to help you get started:
- American Association of University Women
- The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute
- Consortium for Graduate Studies in Management Fellowship
- Forte Fellows
- Hispanic Scholarship Fund
- J.P. Morgan Launching Leaders
- Minorities in Government Finance Scholarship
- Montgomery GI Bill
- National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA)
- National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA)
- The Point Foundation
- Post 9/11 GI Bill
- Robert A. Toigo Foundation
Funding for International Students
If you're not a U.S. citizen, review the following sites and conduct your own research for funding opportunities in your home country. These fellowships are awarded based on need, merit, or both. Below is a non-exhaustive list to help you get started:
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Europe:
- Eduarda Justo Foundation (Spain)
- Fundacion Ramon Areces (Spain)
- Instituto de Credito Oficial (Spain)
- La Caixa (Spain)
- The Sainsbury Management Fellowship Scheme (UK)
- NOVA (Italy)
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South / Central America:
- Fundação Estudar (Brazil)
- Instituto Ling Scholarship Program (Brazil)
- Becas M.O.B. (Mexico)
- Comexus (Mexico)
- Fundacion Beca (Mexico)
- Organizacion de Estados de las Americas (Mexico)
Funding for Naturalized U.S. Citizens / Resident Aliens
If you're a naturalized U.S. citizen, resident alien, or the child of naturalized parents, consider applying to The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. Fellowships cover two years of graduate study.
Other Funding Opportunities
If you're not eligible for any of the funding opportunities above, review the scholarships and fellowships listed below:
- AMCF Foundation for Excellence in Management Consulting
- Association of Management Consulting Firms (AMCF)
- Fulbright Scholarship
- Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA)
- Institute of Management Consultants
- Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholarship
- John Gyles Education Award
- Matthew A. Martinez Real Estate Fund
- NSCS-GEICO Graduate School Scholarship
- The Richard Metzler and Roland Berger AMCF Scholarships
- Rising Farmworker Dream Fund
Fastweb
Fastweb is a search engine that crawls through a database of financial awards totaling more than $3 billion. The web site requires you to register but the service is free of charge. It's not a complete database, but it's a good start in your quest to discover business school fellowships and scholarships.
Grants.gov
Grants.gov is a central repository of data on over 1,000 grant programs from federal agencies totaling approximately $500 billion in annual awards. The web site contains information on grants available to both individuals and organizations. Remember to narrow your search to grants available to "individuals" in the advanced search tab.
The Scholarships & Grants Guide
Mr. Bohlken has assembled a database of thousands of scholarships and grants over a period of nearly a decade. His mission is to save students countless hours of research by providing a one-stop resource. His product is not free but comes with a 100% money back guarantee.
