Itchy feet? Try foreign study

The increasing number of MBA programmes abroad make perfect business sense for UK students

As business becomes increasingly global, a growing number of MBA students are grabbing their passports and heading abroad to add an international dimension to their CVs. A small, elite band of British high-flyers has always headed for Harvard, INSEAD in France or IMD in Switzerland, but now applicants are starting to look at a wider range of foreign business schools.

"We don't have exact figures, but we get a lot more enquiries than in the past about MBA courses at European and American business schools," says Peter Calladine, educational services manager of the Association of MBAs (The Association of MBAs).

Calladine adds that there is even interest in MBA courses in Australia and Latin America (five business schools in Argentina and Chile now have The Association of MBAs accreditation). "There are a lot of good courses around and we find that those people considering an MBA abroad are generally better qualified, more confident and want a career in international business, " he says.

The majority of British MBA students wanting to study abroad forgo the beaches of Australia in favour of European or American cities. It's a chance to immerse themselves in another culture and also to pick up a new language – although the vast majority of courses are taught in English.

Eric Weber, associate dean of MBA programs at IESE, the Barcelona-based business school, says that studying for an MBA is not just about mastering business. "It's about making a host of new friendships that will last a lifetime and broadening your horizons by living and working in a country not your own. These make the experience such a rich one."

Richard Gold, a media consultant who has an MBA from INSEAD, says: "I wanted to go somewhere truly international. For me, INSEAD was the best choice. I improved my French and also studied Spanish and learnt to speak the language of business which gave me more credibility when it came to switching careers from journalism into consultancy."

Another reason for choosing a European institution was the fact that the course lasted a year, compared with two years in the US. "I looked at the top business schools – London Business School, Harvard and INSEAD – but decided I didn't want to be off the career path for two years," he says. If you don't want to commit fully to a year abroad, there are alternatives.

Warwick Business School, for example, runs a European MBA with periods spent at Warwick, Mannheim in Germany and ESSEC near Paris. Cranfield has an exchange programme where full-time MBA students can spend a term at business schools in a number of countries including Spain, Australia. South Africa and Brazil.

European schools are also cheaper than leading UK schools or those in the US. A Harvard MBA costs around $120,000 (£78,000) over two years, a full-time one-year MBA course at Warwick costs £21,000 and an MBA from Nyenrode University in the Netherlands costs £16,000. Rent and living expenses are also often cheaper in many European cities. However, the leading US business schools would argue that the quality of their teaching and the job prospects open to their MBA graduates justify the cost.

Financing an MBA is always a heavy burden, particularly in the current economic climate when finding a job afterwards may not be easy, but Peter Calladine says that some European institutions offer bursaries or reduce or waiver fees for particularly good students. There are also a number of scholarships available from the American Fulbright Commission and the Sainsbury Management Fellowship which is aimed at people with engineering backgrounds.

At the end of the day does it matter where your MBA comes from? "Not if it's from one of the top institutions," says headhunter Curly Moloney of Moloney Search. "An MBA from the best business schools – LBS, INSEAD, IMD in Switzerland, London Business School, Harvard, Wharton and Princeton all carry the same weight on your CV."

Moloney adds that some of the less well known European schools may cut less ice with UK employers than more familiar British or US schools. And Dick Busheman, European president at international recruitment specialists Korn Ferry, adds: "In the current economic climate, it does matter where your MBA is from because employers can take their pick. But you also need strong work experience. If it came down to two candidates, one with an MBA and the other with real international work experience, I would go for the person with relevant work experience."