Should I pursue a scholarship?

When a student, staff member, or faculty come to Cranfield, they become part of our team. A team that is close-knit and who look out for one another even after graduating or moving on to make their mark in the world.

We are proud to stay in touch with our incredible alumni community, who remain engaged with Cranfield School of Management for many years after graduation.

Some generous alumni have even sponsored parts of the University. Grenville Turner, (Executive MBA 1992) has sponsored our fantastic state-of-the-art multimedia TV studio since 2018. Global executive search agency, Odgers Berndston, has awarded a prize to an outstanding student on the Cranfield MBA Programme every year since 1987 in recognition of its founder, Ian Odgers, a Cranfield alumnus (MBA 1966).

We are also very grateful that some members of our alumni family show their support by providing upcoming students with scholarships to help them get the most out of their Cranfield experience.

We met with Tunyamai Chaiwipassatorn, a current FT MBA student from Thailand, who shares what led her to Cranfield and how she was awarded the prestigious Leo Murray Entrepreneurship Scholarship.

“I was born and raised in Chiangmai, a small province in the north of Thailand. My grandfather and grandmother owned a shop that sold bags, shoes, and belts. I lived there in my early years, as our shop and home were in the same place. My childhood memories in that small shop nurtured my passion for fashion and retail. During my time there, I realised how my grandparents, and people like them, had strong skills in producing clothing products but lacked good marketing, operations, and management skills and therefore struggled to make a living. Many manufacturers must leave their hometowns to seek better opportunities in the capital city, Bangkok.

“With my strong passion for the fashion retail industry, my long-term goal is to return to my hometown to become an entrepreneur and start my own clothing store, selling locally made clothes for everyday use, such as lifestyle wear and activewear on both online and offline channels. My ultimate dream is to open my own clothing factory one day, where the materials and labour will be sourced from local people. In addition to creating my clothing factory, I will also partner with local cloth manufacturers to sell their products through my channels. Ultimately, I plan to afford opportunities to local retailers that were not available to my grandparents.

“To achieve my future, I started my retail experience in a global clothing company as a management trainee and was then promoted to store manager. However, after working for a while, I believed that there was still room to improve my strategic thinking, entrepreneurship, leadership, and communication skills. I started to think about pursuing an MBA abroad. It also fulfilled another inner desire to be a global citizen who has experience in living and studying overseas.

“For an international student, funding is a challenge that must be considered. Especially, applying for an MBA programme, you may expect a higher tuition fee. As you can guess, there are many additional costs when you plan to study abroad. For example, visas, transportation, accommodation, and daily living expenses. It was nerve-racking but ultimately it was a great decision to leave a secure job and go back to non-paid education. I planned to self-fund but was also looking for scholarship opportunities. This was why the Cranfield Full Time MBA stood out as the perfect choice for me.

“There are many MBA scholarship options available to students. Cranfield School of Management offers a wide range of scholarships to support individual potential and diversity across various sectors and regions globally. I applied for and was successful in receiving the ‘Leo Murray Entrepreneurship Scholarship‘. This was set up in honour of Professor Leo Murray who retired as Director of the School of Management in 2003. It was established to recognise future potential entrepreneurial stars who have the ambition to execute their business ideas either during or following the MBA. The process for applying was straightforward, and I hope to encourage future students to apply as well.

“As a scholarship recipient, I am so grateful and appreciate that my business idea was seen and supported. It encourages me to strive to achieve my dream after my MBA even more. Moreover, I can make the most of this one-year MBA programme, worry less about my budget management, and enjoy myself better. This scholarship also inspired me to give back to Cranfield University and the School of Management community. Currently, I’m a Student Ambassador and member of the Cranfield MBA marketing committee. With both roles, I enjoy sharing the wonderful experience I have had at Cranfield with more and more people.”

Explore our scholarship packages to start your transformation journey at Cranfield.