Financing an overseas MBA: Where, What & How?

An interesting artile on the financial aid, again from an American perspective but I think it's also helpful for other international students. Just to clarify one ISSUE about the tuition fee. It's mostly true with many other European schools that they're increasing the program fee substantially, e.g. INSEAD has just raised the fee from Euro 45,000 to 48,800 for Sep 2007 intake. Instituto de Empresa (Madrid) also increased almost 10% to Euro 45,000. But IMD has kept the MBA program fee at CHF 55,000 + 20,000 (2-week overseas discovery trip + 10-month daily 3-course lunch buffet, the quality of which i've detailed in another blog entry:-) for a few years. I didn't apply any U.S. school, so nothing to say about that which is also not relevant for this article because it's discussing US students going abroad. Enjoy reading:

Business Week - Financing an MBA Abroad: Where to Go, What to Know, and How to Borrow?

Higher tuition and living expenses can make pursuing an MBA abroad a financial nightmare. Here's how to obtain the funds so you can sleep easy

by Erica Pelzek, http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/jul2007/bs2007076_525258.htm

"You've spent a few years in the domestic workforce, hip to the ever-globalizing economy, and now your culture-savvy professional interests (inclinations?) make the idea of pursuing an MBA abroad particularly enticing.

Well, start researching schools and try not to let high tuition prices and poor currency conversion rates give you pause. With a few calculations and hearty, equal doses of research and realism, you too can join the discerning 2% of U.S. MBA students pursuing their degrees internationally. Think of your financial aid hunt—and the ensuing computations—as a refresher course in decision science...

Furthermore, though the 152-student (90 MBA + 62 EMBA) International Institute for Management Development , or IMD, in Lausanne, Switzerland carried a price tag of $60,700 for the 2006 academic year and the majority (70%) of its students did not receive financial aid in 2006, the worldly school still provides unique financial aid opportunities. An affluent alumni board doles out scholarship and loan monies from a fund; the pool, backed and run entirely by IMD grads, dished out $900,000 for needy students in the 2006 academic year alone..."

Top 10 CIAs (China, India A-list companies)

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/02/0222_china_companies/index_01.htm (from Business Week - Slide Show ) a very informative & interesting online interactive library:

Ten Chinese Companies You Should Know
Whether they're catering to the growing middle class or expanding overseas, these Chinese companies are making an impact:
1. March of the Penguin - Tencent Holdings
2. Beyond Big Blue - Lenovo Holdings
3. Worldwide Connections - ZTE
4. Big Oil, Chinese Style - PetroChina
5. Worldwide Wireless Champ - China Mobile
6. Top Banker - Industrial & Commercial Bank of China
7. Electronics Retailer - Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings
8. The Google Killer - Baidu.com
9. Attention Grabber - Focus Media Holdings
10. Serious Fun - Shanda Interactive Entertainment

Ten Indian Companies to Watch http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/02/0211_indiacompanies/index_01.htm
The corporate high-achievers driving India’s hot economy aren’t yet immediately recognizable global brands. Here are 10 that could change that:
1. $2,260 Compact - Tata Motor
2. SUV King - Mahindra & Mahindra
3. Global Ambitions - Bharat Forge
4. India’s Global Site - Rediff.com
5. Software Powerhouse - Infosys Technologies
6. Acquisition Machine - Wipro
7. India Pharma - Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories
8. Wireless Wonder - Bharti Airtel
9. Energy Champ - Reliance Industries
10. Money Spinner - ICICI Bank

Quake Shuffles B-School Deadlines

by Janie Ho and Kerry Miller

Internet disruptions caused by the Dec. 26 earthquake off the southern coast of Taiwan came at a bad time for many potential B-school applicants in East Asia, as the Round One application deadline for many top U.S. schools was quickly approaching. But several schools said this week that most applicants were apparently getting their applications in, and those that had lingering problems would be accommodated.

At MIT-Sloan, where the Round One deadline is Jan. 10, the admissions office will accept applications from those residing in areas in Asia that experienced Internet service disruptions due to the earthquake till 5 p.m. EST on Jan. 26. A spokeswoman said the school is currently in the process of getting this message out through multiple platforms to applicants in affected areas. ....

Everything is slowing down...

苹果Apple vs. Cola可乐

商业周刊大幅报道纽约大学（5万学生）宣布取消所有的可口可乐自动贩卖机，起因是两年前哥伦比亚工厂的劳工被披露人权问题……很难想象这事情是如何关联的吧？请阅读吧：
BIGGER PROBLEMS? Hancock says CKC (Campus Kick-off Cola) is still hopeful that Coca-Cola will address its concerns and institute "a new and transparent human-rights policy." Tannenbaum says the university will lift the ban if Coke agrees to an investigation as proposed. Coca-Cola's University Commission has been at a standstill since early November. The five student representatives who resigned in protest have not yet rejoined. "We need to make a decision about how to proceed," says Scott Nova, executive director of the WRC, who sits on the commission. "That will happen relatively soon." A Coca-Cola representative says the company is willing and open to further discuss the issue. But Coke may find itself in a bigger predicament as time passes. In the two years since the NYU campaign began, allegations that Coca-Cola permitted human-rights abuses and environmental degradation in countries like India, Ghana, Turkey, Indonesia, and Guatemala have gained media attention and support on college campuses in particular. Three weeks after NYU announced its ban, the University of Michigan followed suit, citing questionable behavior by the company in India and Colombia. Coca-Cola says it's developing a global workplace-rights policy that it will adopt at the end of the first quarter of 2006.

PR NIGHTMARE. The cost of losing a customer like NYU, which doesn't have an exclusive contract with Coca-Cola, is difficult to gauge. (An NYU spokesperson didn't know the value of its business with Coke.) But the public-relations hit of losing such a trend-setting school might make any executive wince. "Just like Coca-Cola, NYU is a brand. We're a dream school, the school of [TV series] Felicity, and we make news," says Hancock. Soon Cadbury Schweppes (CSG ) brand RC Cola will replace Coke and Minute Maid in NYU's vending machines and dining halls. Will the preferences and buying behavior of NYU students follow? "Coca-Cola better pay attention to these students," says Tannenbaum. "They're going to be [its] consumers for the next 40 years."