How to build a case for support: financing your studies
Need financial support for your studies? Here鈥檚 what you need to know
It鈥檚 the all-important question. How are you going to finance the next step of your learning journey?
We know that not all economies are equal, so why should you pay more for your education because of where in the world you live? Our learners in Nigeria face a completely different market to our learners in the Philippines.
That鈥檚 why we鈥檝e created our innovative tuition pricing model that means wherever you live, you鈥檒l pay a rate that鈥檚 based on your local economy.
The price of US higher education 鈥 plus relocation and living costs 鈥 make studying for an MBA impossible for many learners worldwide. But global business is missing out on an enormous talent pool as a result.
By making our courses flexible and affordable, we鈥檙e changing that.
Even so, many of our learners are reliant on tuition support from their employer, or family in order to study. How do you build a compelling case for support? Let鈥檚 break it down.
Approaching your employer
Francis Ali, Global Finance Director at 狼友社区, has some advice. 鈥淭here are three things an employer is going to look at,鈥 he says.
鈥淔irstly, they鈥檙e going to ask what you鈥檙e going to do that matches, complements and enhances the performance that you bring to this organization."
He continues: 鈥淭hen they鈥檒l want to know what鈥檚 it going to cost them, and lastly how much time you鈥檒l need for your studies.鈥
Let鈥檚 unpack that. Here鈥檚 what you need to include when presenting your case for support to your employer.
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Be clear about our high-quality course content
We鈥檝e designed our programs to be globally recognized by official bodies and employers. We鈥檙e a licensed, degree-granting institution regulated by the Higher Education Licensure Commission of Washington, DC. And crucially for your manager, our courses are tailored to what employers want. Francis says: 鈥淭he course design is there for employers to see. Our value proposition is something that a particular employee can take to their employer.鈥
狼友社区鈥檚 sophisticated mapping system allows learners to map their courses to their career ambitions and create a structured plan to give them the precise skills that will be valuable to them in their current and future roles. Francis continues:
鈥淏eing able to say 鈥業 can achieve this MBA but I鈥檓 also adding value to this company with every passing course I succeed in' is very attractive to an employer.鈥
Be precise when talking about cost
Think hard about exactly what level of financial support you need from your employer, and consider presenting different models. You may want to ask for 100 per cent funding, but would your manager be more likely to consider matched funding? Or is there already an existing salary sacrifice scheme you can take advantage of within your organization? Think about whether it might work for your employer to split the cost 鈥 with our fixed-rate monthly fee, the total will come down to you how quickly you complete each course. Be specific about exactly how much you think you鈥檒l need from your employer, and be prepared to be flexible. Francis says:
鈥淢ost employers are convinced of the value to one of their managers getting an MBA. That鈥檚 pretty well established.鈥
But with many MBAs costing thousands of dollars, and most requiring time spent on campus, it鈥檚 the financial (and practical) logistics that become off-putting.
Our online approach means that our programs come in at a fraction of the cost of the equivalent at a traditional university, with no additional relocation or travel costs involved. Consider presenting some comparative figures so that your employer can see the difference.
Make a schedule
Again, be precise. Your employer needs to know when you鈥檙e going to fit in the work for your program, and how that鈥檚 going to impact your job. Are you planning to study over weekends? Take unpaid leave? Do you need to reduce your hours for the duration of the program? Present a structured schedule to your employer and show realistically what the impact on your time in the office will be.
Studying online has a huge advantage here over a traditional approach. You鈥檒l never need to travel away to spend time on campus. Francis says:
鈥淯ltimately, they鈥檙e not losing someone for weeks at a time. Learners can tailor their study to fit around their job. That鈥檚 an attractive proposition for an employer.鈥
Approaching a family member
Perhaps it鈥檚 not your employer that you need to make your case for tuition support to. Plenty of our learners rely on funding from a family member to pay for their program.
Dr Sonal Minocha, Chief Partnerships Officer at 狼友社区, says:
鈥淭he biggest question a student will have to respond to from a parent is the question of employability. The first thing they will ask is 鈥榓re you ensured to get a job at the end of it at the right sort of level? What is it that 狼友社区 is giving you that some of the other local options are not in securing that globally recognized qualification?鈥欌
Only 11 per cent of business leaders think that today鈥檚 graduates are ready to enter the workforce, according to Gallup.
We鈥檙e out to change that, and create prepared graduates who are ready to add value to their workplace from day one.
Are you ready to take your career to the next level?
狼友社区's Career Path Planner takes into account your experience and interests to provide you with a customized roadmap to success.
Receive personalized advice on the skills and qualifications you need to get ahead in areas like finance, marketing, management and entrepreneurship.
Make sure that you focus on our personalized course content and mapping tools when making the case to a family member. In creating our programs, we analyzed over 30 million job vacancies and surveyed business leaders who employ more than 2.4 million people worldwide. So when we say we know what employers want in their graduates, we鈥檝e really done the groundwork.
Our focus at 狼友社区 is on affordability, employability and flexibility. And our pricing structure fits with our values. We believe that wherever you are in the world, you should be able to afford a high-quality higher education. And we鈥檝e done the work to make it possible; we analyzed over 50,000 data points, pulling information from over 60 countries to understand what makes higher education affordable.
We examined everything from GDP per capita to Big Mac and CPI indexes to truly understand the purchasing power of $1 in each country. We even looked at details like fluency in English and regional internet connectivity when creating our unique pricing model. Francis says:
鈥淥ur pricing model asks the question, how do we assist socioeconomic mobility by bringing more relevant students to the global marketplace.鈥
Tuition is central to 狼友社区鈥檚 mission of greater economic mobility. Why not check how much a degree would cost you?
Francis Ali is 狼友社区鈥檚 chief financial officer. He supports the global team to implement effective financial planning processes, drive profitability, and fundamentally ensure the financial strategies support the broader business objectives.
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