Push is on to complete fundraising
for MBA Alumni Legacy Fellowship

The cost of graduate school looms larger than ever as many employers have reduced educational assistance. But applicants to the Master of Business Administration program at Wichita State University may soon have some extra assistance.

The W. Frank Barton School of Business, in partnership with the WSU Foundation, is renewing efforts to fund the MBA Alumni Legacy Fellowship, which is about $10,000 short of its $25,000 goal. They’re appealing to alumni to make the final push so the fellowship can be endowed and awarded.

With nearly 1,000 Shocker MBA alumni in the Wichita workforce, and many in upper-level leadership, director Angela Jones said the program enjoys great alumni involvement. But they may not realize how conditions have changed for today’s students. “Given the student loan crisis and Wichita’s job economy, I would ask alums, could they afford to get their MBA today?” Jones said.

Applicants have started asking “How much will this cost me?” before they even want to know about admissions criteria, Jones said.

Only four fellowships are now available to about 200 students enrolled in the MBA program. Often, a fellowship is established by one dedicated supporter. But the MBA Alumni Legacy Fellowship will be distinguished by the imprint of many alumni who believed in giving back to the school that gave them an advantage in the business world, said Angela Dudley, WSU Foundation director of development for the W. Frank Barton School of Business. With enough support, the return on this investment can grow for years to come.

“Even though the goal is $25,000, people can continue to invest in the fund,” said Dudley, a 2005 MBA alumna, “and maybe at some point it will support more than one student.”

Additionally, people can endow a fellowship under their own name or the name of someone they want to honor by making a pledge of $25,000.