The Eller Executive MBA program enables you to dramatically improve the performance of teams in your organization and build capacity overall. With students missing less than three days a month on average, your organization will experience an immediate and ongoing return on sponsorship costs.

Build Organizational Capacity

Accomplished and high-potential employees in your organization already contribute significantly to your success. The Eller Executive MBA expands their knowledge, preparing them for greater levels of responsibility, more strategic planning and executive leadership so that they, in turn, can help guide and elevate the next generation of company leaders. Unlike a traditional two-year MBA program, the structure of the 21-month Eller Executive MBA—designed to require a minimum amount of time away from work—allows you to significantly enhance the skills and tools of your top employees without sacrificing their productivity. They continue to play a key role in your organization even as they gain the knowledge to advance their own performance and that of everyone they work with.

Capture Immediate Return on Investment

Participants in the Eller Executive MBA program learn continually, not only from faculty and assignments but from the high-performing leaders that the program attracts. Every class session imparts new insights and skills that participants take with them to work the very next week. In addition, the required Executive Project provides the opportunity for participants to address a significant challenge faced by your organization today or in the near future. With the guidance of expert MBA faculty and the team support of executives from a broad range of industries, your sponsored employee will be actively building solutions for your company, step by step, month after month.

Attract and Retain the Best

Sponsoring MBA education is more than an investment in individual employees—it's an investment in your organization as a whole. Not only will it help you retain your brightest talent, and not only will you reap the benefit of the increased knowledge and skill those employees possess, you also demonstrate by your actions your organization's commitment to quality and growth. This message encourages higher performance from employees at every level and builds your reputation among graduates who are just starting their careers as well as outstanding professionals at other organizations who may be considering a change in employment.

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It's important that your organization endorse your participation in the Eller Executive MBA since attendance requires time away from work throughout the 21-month program. Beyond endorsement, you may decide to seek sponsorship to have your employer cover all or some of program costs.

Securing sponsorship will require presenting a clear and compelling explanation of how your organization will benefit from your earning an Eller Executive MBA.

Do Research

Make sure you know and understand your organization's policies around employee education and sponsorship. Find out if others in your company have gone through a similar program and what their experience was. Know as much as you can about what to expect before you present your proposal for sponsorship.

Be Prepared

Before having a conversation seeking sponsorship for the Eller Executive MBA, prepare by anticipating questions and concerns and formulating clear, succinct responses. Read through the tips below. If appropriate, create a presentation to share key information or prepare charts, spreadsheets or text documents.

Focus on Value

Your organization will be most interested in what return they can expect for sponsoring your education. Draw a clear connection between your current responsibilities, potential future contribution and the curriculum of the Eller Executive MBA. Offer real examples of past challenges you've negotiated and show how the skills and knowledge of an MBA would have saved time or money or otherwise improved the outcome. Communicate how your increased leadership skills will, in turn, help you build capacity of your team and/or coworkers.

Be Clear about Commitment

Consider what you are willing to give to your organization in exchange for its sponsorship. Be clear about your commitment—is it for the length of the program? For a period of time beyond the program? The longer your commitment to the company, the easier to build a case for greater returns over the life of your employment.

Negotiate and Ameliorate

It may be that your organization is open to the idea of sponsoring your education without bearing the full cost—either financially or the cost of your absence from work. Consider what you are willing to commit in exchange for partial sponsorship. You may also be able to offer suggestions for minimizing the impact of your time away from work. Are you willing to work two weekend days a month or certain evenings to make up for Fridays away from work?

Start Early

This recommendation is key. The process of gaining sponsorship can be lengthy. Prepare well in advance and begin the dialogue as early as possible.

For additional information, please contact us.