HBS Boosted MBA Scholarships By 8% To $42K Per Year

Harvard Business School. Photo by John A. Byrne

TOTAL FELLOWSHIP AWARDS, INCLUDING FOR DOCTORAL CANDIDATES, WAS $51 MILLION

“The prospect of entering or returning to the work force with high levels of education debt can deter strong MBA candi- dates from applying to HBS and restrict their career choices upon graduation. This is particularly true for younger students, women, those from outside the United States, and students whose early career paths have not enabled them to reduce their undergraduate loans.

“Consequently, the school strives to assist students in minimizing their debt at grad- uation by ensuring that fellowship support keeps pace with tuition and fees. Extending a long-term record of annual increases in financial aid, total Fellowships expense for fiscal 2019, including assistance for MBA students, Doctoral candidates, and a limited number of Executive Education participants, increased by $1 million, or 2%, from fiscal 2018 to $51 million.

Fellowships amounted to 6% of the school’s total operating costs in fiscal 2019, vs. 7% a year earlier. Funding for fellowships comes from restricted endowment and current-use givng by HBS alumni and friends. These funds are supplemented by unrestricted funds as necessary, which totaled $4 million in fiscal 2019.”

Total revenues at Harvard Business School hit a record $925 million. Source: HBS Annual Report 2019

While the school could not have anticipated the coronavirus-fueled recession, CFO Melnick noted that the school has long been conservative in budgeting revenues and expenses. The HBS budget for 2020 assumed that total revenues would grow less than 1% from the $925 million reported for fiscal 2019. “Our plan for fiscal 2020 reflects this sense of caution,” he wrote. “If economic conditions remain favorable, the School’s financial results are likely to outperform on both the top and bottom lines in fiscal 2020, as they have for the past several years.”