Education is always a worthwhile investment, even if it does seem a bit expensive at first glance. After all, what’s most important is the long-term payoff. So if you’re thinking about getting your masters in business administration online from a school like Villanova University, here are some tips to help you finance the next step in your professional education.
Traditional Student Aid
If you are looking into an online MBA degree, odds are you have already gone the student aid route for your bachelor’s degree. If that’s the case, you are in luck because most of the same options are available to higher level degrees as well.
There’s the well-known Federal Pell Grant, which doesn’t need to be repaid, as well as the Federal Perkins Loan, which does need to be paid back. The Perkins loan can get you up to $8,000 each year, but the number is dependent on your personal monetary needs at the time, as well as the funds that your school has available.
You can also find many different scholarships that are awarded to higher level students, as well as work study programs that help you earn back some of the costs of your online MBA through community service work.
Work Funded
Some employers, especially those that would benefit from you having an MBA while on their team, will offer to cover at least part of your tuition. Talk to your boss to find out if your company offers any tuition reimbursement programs, and to find out how to take advantage of them.
If you happen to be self-employed, and your business is lucrative enough, you could use your company to invest in your education. As long as you can prove that the education you are receiving is directly related to the nature of the business, the tuition will be fully deductible on the company’s taxes. Receiving a tax refund for your tuition costs is like getting a discount on the total cost of the tuition in the long run. Once you’re done earning your masters in business administration and you’ve made yourself a more valuable asset to your own company, feel free to give yourself a raise. You’ve earned it.
Dipping Into Savings
This option is a bit more risky, but if you have a good paying job already, and enough money saved in the bank with no foreseeable spikes in expenses, you could always try to pay your way through graduate school from your own savings account.
Higher level degrees do open doors to better paying positions, so the theory is that, once you’ve completed the degree program, you’ll be able to earn more and pay that money back quickly. Loaning yourself the money frees you from any work-related stipulations regarding reimbursement, and you won’t owe yourself any interest either.
Higher degrees come with a higher price tag, but in the long run, you will be investing in yourself and opening new doors for earning more money. By following these tips, you can be on your way to an MBA in no time.
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