Leading business school offers scholarships to Middle East MBA students

The MBA programmes are being run by Manchester Business School Worldwide (MBSW), the distance learning arm of Manchester Business School, ranked third in the UK and seventh in Europe by the Financial Times. MBSW is offering a number of regional scholarships to mark the opening of its new Middle East centre at Dubai Knowledge Village. Prospective students in the region also have the chance to apply for global scholarships offered by the school.

The Middle East scholarships are being offered to students residing in non GCC countries in the Middle East, for MBA programmes beginning in January 2007. The scholarships cover 25 per cent of the programme tuition fees and apply to the three programmes currently being offered in the region - MBA for Financial Managers and Finance Professionals; MBA for Engineering Business Managers; MBA for Construction Executives. MBSW already has over 100 students from the Middle East following MBA programmes, many from across the GCC.

"We are offering these scholarships to students outside the GCC to attract more students from the wider Middle East region," explains Randa Bessiso, Middle East Director of MBSW. "When we began our programmes in the region, in January 2006, we focused on the GCC and initially offered scholarships to these students. We now want to extend the opportunity to other prospective students."

Managers meeting the entry criteria are being invited to apply for a scholarship by writing a 1500 word essay answering the question 'How will an MBA help your career development?' Scholarships will be awarded on the basis of academic excellence and the quality of the application, including the essay. Deadline for applications: 31st October 2006.

"We are not offering a specific number of scholarships because they will only be awarded to exceptional candidates. However, the calibre of candidates we have so far seen in the region means that we would expect to offer several scholarships to students joining our MBA programmes in January 2007."

In addition to the regional scholarships, MBSW is offering global scholarships for professionals in the construction and banking industries. Construction industry executives who are members of the professional bodies - RICS, RIBA or CIOB - and banking industry professionals can apply for these global scholarships from MBSW.