Evening & Weekend MBA Program
Evening & Weekend MBA Grant Program
The purpose of the Evening & Weekend MBA Grant is to facilitate access to the Berkeley MBA for students whose current employment is in the non-profit or public service sectors and who demonstrate financial need. Students who demonstrate financial need but are not currently employed in non-profit or public service fields, while not the primary target of this grant program, may still apply.
I. Grant Eligibility
All entering and continuing students in the Evening & Weekend MBA program, including international students, are eligible to apply for this grant. Students must apply annually for the Evening & Weekend MBA Grant. Continuing students must meet grant criteria, demonstrate significant financial need, and maintain satisfactory academic progress each year in order to be considered. Grant funding is not guaranteed from year to year.
The Evening & Weekend MBA grant is awarded only to students who demonstrate significant financial need. Net financial need is calculated by the Haas Financial Aid Office using guidelines established by the federal government. Given the limited pool of funds, we are not able to meet the needs of all who apply; therefore,.first priority is given to students who currently work in the non-profit or public sectors and secondary consideration is given to students who do not work in these fields.
In order to be considered for the Grant, students must apply for and accept all loans available through federal loan programs (both subsidized and unsubsidized loans). Students who fail to comply with this requirement will not be awarded funds and will be asked to return any EWMBA Grant funds already awarded in that academic year.
In general, students who meet any of the following criteria will not be considered for a grant, unless there are special circumstances:
1. You have a total annual household income (Adjusted Gross Income) of $100,000 or more.
2. You have primary home equity in excess of $100,000.
3. You have other assets and investments (e.g., stocks, bonds, mutual funds not including retirement accounts) valued at $50,000 or more.
4. You are receiving 50% or more in tuition assistance from your employer.
II. Grant Awards
The EWMBA Grant is designed to offset the cost of tuition that a student cannot meet through existing federal loan programs. By subtracting the amount of available federal loans, $20,500, from the current year tuition, one calculates the Maximum Grant Award that one may expect to receive. (For International Students, defined as not a US citizen nor a US permanent resident, who are ineligible for federal loans, the Evening & Weekend MBA Grant committee will assume that you will be borrowing $20,500 through private loans when calculating your Maximum Grant Award.) Please note that this maximum, or cap, is not a guaranteed amount and may be smaller depending on Grant funding and student need. Grant awards will not exceed the net financial need of a student.
III. Application Instructions and General Information
You must apply for the grant using our online application,
which will be available by the end of January, 2005.
1. Application Instructions
Please follow all grant application instructions carefully.
Applicants are responsible for ensuring the delivery of all
required information, forms, and documentation outlined in
these instructions by the April 15, 2005 deadline.
Grant applications which are incomplete or received after
the grant application deadline will not be considered.
Evening & Weekend MBA Grant Program Calendar
FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) Completed
By: March 2, 2005
Grant Application Submitted or Postmarked By: April 15, 2005
Grant Decisions Beginning: June 2005
There are five steps to completing the Evening & Weekend MBA Grant Application:
Step 1: Complete the 2005-2006 FAFSA on-line by
March 2, 2005. (The application is available at www.fafsa.ed.gov.
UC Berkeley's federal school code is 001312.)
Step 2: Fill out the online Grant Application and answer the essay question.
Step 3: Print the Employer Assistance Verification Form and ask our employer to complete it.
Return this form to our office all other grant application materials.
Step 4: Submit a copy of your signed 2004 Federal
Income Tax Return, including all schedules and W-2s.
Step 5: Gather all grant application materials together
in one envelope and mail to our office. Materials must be
postmarked by April 15, 2005. Please remember to print and
complete the Employer Assistance Verification Form and include
it with a copy of your signed 2004 Federal Income Tax Return
(including all schedules and W-2s) in one packet to be mailed
to our office with a postmark no later than April 15, 2005.
Evening & Weekend MBA Grant Application
Haas School of Business
University of California, Berkeley
430 Student Services Building, #1906
Berkeley, CA 94720-1906
You must submit all Grant Application materials (except for the FAFSA and the materials submitted online) in one envelope. Our office is unable to match materials sent in separate mailings. Incomplete applications will not be considered for a grant.
2. General Information
FAFSA
The FAFSA form is a national standardized form created by
the federal government. It must be completed and filed online
at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/.
Please request that your processed data be electronically
released to UC Berkeley by including UC Berkeley's federal
school code of 001312. The 2005-2006 FAFSA must be submitted
to the government four weeks in advance of our April 15 deadline
to ensure its receipt at the Haas School.
International applicants, while not eligible for federal financial aid, are eligible to apply for the Evening & Weekend MBA Grant Program. For grant consideration, you must file the FAFSA and indicate option C on the citizenship question: "I am not a citizen or eligible noncitizen." Your FAFSA will still be processed and the financial information sent to Berkeley. You will receive a letter from the federal processing center indicating you are not eligible for aid; please ignore it. This form is required for grant consideration regardless of ineligibility for federal loans.
Grant Application Form
Complete, sign, and submit the form with the rest of your grant application materials.
Employer Assistance Verification Form
Complete and sign the student section of the Evening & Weekend MBA Grant Employer Assistance Verification Form. Give the form to your benefits administrator and ask that he/she enclose the completed form in an envelope, seal the envelope, and sign across the seal. The envelope should be given back to you for inclusion with the rest of your grant application materials.
Essay
Respond to the essay question, "Based on your financial situation, why do you feel that you are qualified for a need-based grant?" in the field provided on the online application form. Please limit the length of your response to no more than 500 words. We suggest that you write your response off-line and then paste it into our online application form.
Your 2004 Federal Income Tax Return
You must submit a signed photocopy of all pages, schedules,
and W-2 forms from your 2004 federal income tax return.
3. Continuing Students
Continuing students must complete the entire Grant Application
process each year. All instructions and deadlines are the
same for entering and continuing students. Grant funding is
not guaranteed from year to year. NOTE: This is a new policy
as of January 1, 2004.
4. Nondiscrimination Statement
The University of California, in accordance with applicable federal and state law and University policy, prohibits discrimination, including harassment, on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, physical or mental disability, medical condition (cancer-related or genetic characteristics), ancestry, marital status, age, sexual orientation, citizenship, or status as a covered veteran (special disabled veteran, Vietnam-era veteran or any other veteran who served on active duty during a war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized). This nondiscrimination policy covers admission, access, and treatment in University programs and activities.
FINANCIAL AID CONTACT INFORMATION
Charles Conn
Financial Aid Counselor
Haas School of Business
Student Services Building 420K
University of California Berkeley, #1900
Berkeley, CA 94720-1900
(510) 643-0183
