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Are B-School Tuition Fees Rising Too Fast?

Tuition fee hikes discriminate against applicants who aren’t high-earners, and scholarships won’t cover the difference, argues one b-school applicant

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When would a £5k increase in tuition fees be worth it?

Well, maybe they are. A BusinessBecause.com member recently sent us a message listing out why he thought one particular UK b-school’s tuition fee hike, from £28k to £33k, was unfair and unjustified.

“The extra income can pay easily for 10 career officers, does it translate into equivalent career gains for students?” he asks. The same could be asked of many b-schools.

Here’s his message in full. Let us know what you think and check back for the response from business schools!

“Please consider the context of hike against a background of stagnant average income and difficult-to-obtain loans from banks. Not all students are hedgie, bankers or consultants who can come up with equity.

“Does the rise discriminate against talented applicants from low-income professions (non-profit and public sector) as they struggle to get bank loans?...

“I would be very surprised if the tuition hike is proportionately(!) linked to an increase in scholarship funding….

“I have serious doubts that XYZ b-school delivers a career service improvement to justify the exorbitant rise. The extra income can pay easily for 10 career officers, but does it translate into equivalent career gains for students? ”

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Comments

14 January 2011

I think that anyone who's a low earner but eligible for a top school would be a total fool not to get a scholarship - I'd like to see some statistics on the number of scholarships offered, because that's probably increased too.

Sian Fleming-Jones

One of the problems is that, given the sheer number of applicants, many top b-schools can 'afford' to rule out lower-income students by raising fees.

It would be very interesting to see the average salary of successful applicants to top schools - I would expect a correlation between higher earnings and being eligible and keen for better business schools.

A huge number of lower-earners are eligible and keen to get into top b-schools, of course. But I'll bet that schools at least aren't ruling out the majority of desirable candidates by hiking fees, even if unfairly so.