Africa remains a viable study destination for many African prospective graduate management education students. It’s less costly than study abroad and there are many sponsorship opportunities to explore, as employers in many countries are looking for people who can take on management roles. Students from Africa, whether considering programmes at home or abroad, should be prepared to answer questions about the costs and financing of their graduate management education.

Questions you should consider include:

• How do I get a loan, and from which kind of institution?
• Should I secure a loan from a bank in my country of origin or, if studying abroad, from a foreign bank?
• Will the loan be collateral based?
• What will the interest rate be and to what benchmark will it be calibrated?
• When does repayment begin and how long do I have to repay?
• Are scholarships or fellowships available for my planned course of study? How does one qualify? How to apply?

Financing options are numerous, and your peers are paying for their management education themselves in a variety of ways. However, grants, fellowships, scholarships, and loans make up the majority of the financial mix.

Your Potential Return on Investment (ROI)

Students entering a graduate management programme can expect their degree to expand their career options and enhance their earning power. Although the exact future value of a degree is hard to predict, there are tools to help project potential ROI.

Visit websites such as finaid.org that offers sample calculators and “what if” scenarios to identify potential ROI, break-even, and the Net Present Value (NPV) that you may expect from your graduate degree, based on your inputs. The finaid.org calculator also offers sensitivity analysis. You can change any of your inputs and see the effect that has on your ROI, break-even, and NPV. This is helpful for comparing results across different enrollment and financing options.