Working Your Way Through Your MBA With a Graduate Assistantship

Deciding upon working towards a Master Degree in Business Administration is one of the most important decisions that a professional business person can make. However, just because a candidate brings good grades and experiences to the table, this does not mean that the cost of the degree is negated.

Typically, the financial aspect dissuades people from striving to attain a degree that will cost on average $35,000 to $45,000. One of the more popular means of financing the degree is to take advantage of the fact that the Department of Education will authorize a graduate level student to borrow $18,500 per year toward their degree. But, in the end, the student is still stuck with about $40,000 in debt that must be paid back over the course of twenty years with about 8 percent interest accruing on the principal amount each year. Generally, this is in addition to the funds borrowed for an undergraduate degree. So, if you do not want to take out a lot of debt, how can the tuition costs be paid?

Most people have never heard of graduate assistantships and the fact that they provide students the opportunity to get a free or near free education. The free education does come at a cost. Usually, the student must work for the university in some capacity and in exchange, they receipt a monthly stipend of money in addition to free or reduced tuition.

Performing a simple Internet search will turn up a variety of resources that you can use to apply for these assistantships. Most of the time they are offered by the schools themselves to be sure to apply for the ones that best suit your needs and are at a school you wish to attend. Much like scholarships, assistantships are not just handed out to whomever thinks they want one. There is a lengthy application process that includes the normal operations of hiring an employee with a resume. There is generally a background check as well as an interview process that has been known in some cases to include 3 plus interviews plus a panel interview. Administrators know that assistantships are a great way for graduate students to obtain experience in a field of work. So, they tend to be meticulous when it comes to their choices because they not only want the best person for the job, but they also want someone that will ethically and morally represent the school in a positive light.

Perhaps an even quicker way to research the possibility of getting a graduate assistantship is to ask for help from the career services office at your school. Since assistantships within the school come from the professors needing help, the career office will be the first place that the professors make the request for an assistant.

by Michael Chasen

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