4. Be ready to negotiate
It’s important to realise that there are many ways your employer can support your MBA ambitions. You don’t need to ask for full payment of your fees in a lump sum. There’s a range of sponsorship options and you may be able to use these to negotiate with your employer and explore their willingness to support you.
For example you could:
- Ask your employer to support you for the first year of your course, Stage 1, and review the sponsorship at the end of this
- Split the cost and ask for part-payment of each module
- Agree an interest-free or low cost loan which you could pay back through your monthly wage or arrange an Open University Student Budget Account (OUSBA) and manage the repayments yourself
- Arrange a performance-related scheme based on successful completion of each module or your contribution to defined business objectives relevant to your MBA.
It's also important to recognise that your employer is likely to attach conditions to any sponsorship arrangement. For example, a clause that obliges you to repay your course fees if you leave your job within an agreed timeframe. Once again, you should be open-minded about this and be prepared to negotiate.
Like to take things forward? Let us help you create your MBA sponsorship proposal.