The Graduate Management Admission Council is in the midst of analyzing data from a survey of 2,200 MBA students worldwide, Atkinson said. The survey asked how students financed their MBAs, what their goals were for the degree and what the most important factor was in selecting an employment offer. Seventy-five percent said job selection was based on challenge and interest. Kami Thomas, assistant dean for student services at the Bloch School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, said the school had several private scholarships based on criteria such as academic specialty and ethnic background. But many times the money goes unused.
Many scholarships go unawarded each year.
Students might refrain from applying for them because they suppose that competition is too great. They should apply anyway, she said. It also offers graduate assistanceships, often with partial tuition remission. At Rockhurst University, though, the scholarship spigot seems to be narrower. Susan Black, director of graduate admission for Rockhurst's school of management, said that between 80 percent and 90 percent of Rockhurst's MBA students received some tuition reimbursement from their employers.