Information for International Students
Please review special instructions for international students.
F-1 Curricular Practical Training (CPT)
We are proud to honor our long tradition of students participating in work experience during their MBA journey by adding this as a required component of our curriculum, reinforcing the strong professional profiles and capabilities of our graduates to prospective students.
International students should note, regarding this curriculum change, some special implications:
- The new requirement of the 1.0 credit Applied Business Course satisfies Curricular Practical Training (CPT) work experience requirements under the F-1 visa.
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What is CPT?
Curricular Practical Training (CPT) is temporary work authorization given to F-1 students to receive training required by a course or program. The training must also be directly related to their major field of study. As defined in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), CPT is “alternate work/study, internship, cooperative education, or any other type of required internship or practicum which is offered by sponsoring employers through cooperative agreements with the school” [8 CFR§214.2(f)(10)(i)]. The regulations also state that CPT must be an integral part of an established curriculum.
You can learn more about CPT at the OISS website.
Life at Rice
Click here for more information about housing, student life, the MBA experience, applying for your MBA or how to get around campus.
Financing Your Degree
As an international student, you are required to demonstrate sufficient funding to cover the cost of attendance in order to obtain your student visa. We encourage you to review the information on the Office of International Students and Scholars site and reference the International Financial Declaration Form for MBA Students.
International Payments
For those planning to wire funding from abroad, Rice University has partnered with Flywire to facilitate this process at as low a cost as possible. Please reference the University Cashier's Office for additional information.
International Grant & Loan Organizations
The following loan opportunities may not require a U.S. citizen or permanent resident co-signer.
Banco de México-FIDERH is a federal trust managed by the Central Banco de México that offers affordable low-interest loans to Mexican students for graduate studies either in Mexico or abroad. The Jones Graduate School of Business (JGSB) participates in a collaboration agreement with FIDERH. If (1) a full-time MBA applicant is awarded an admissions scholarship and (2) is approved for funding by FIDERH, JGSB guarantees that the total admissions scholarship award will be a minimum of 25% of tuition.
CONACYT is a member of Mexico’s department of education and offers scholarship and stipend opportunities to Mexican nationals seeking to study abroad.
FUNED is a non-profit private organization which offers Mexican nationals low-interest loan funding. JGSB participates in a collaboration agreement with FUNED. If (1) a full-time MBA applicant is awarded an admissions scholarship and (2) is approved for funding by FUNED, JGSB guarantees that the total admissions scholarship award will be a minimum of 25% of tuition.
Global Student Loan Corporation is a third-party loan facilitator that assists in providing educational loans to citizens of India.
The Leo S. Rowe Pan American Fund grants interest-free educational loans to students from Latin American and Caribbean OAS member countries to help them finance their higher education studies in the United States.
Prodigy Finance offers loans without a co-signer to students studying at a select number of U.S. MBA programs. Rice University's Full-Time MBA is an approved program.
U.S. Loan Organizations
Most U.S. banks require international students to have a U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident (green-card holder) co-sign your loan when you apply. There are, however, two lenders who do not require students to use a co-signer (Prodigy Finance and MPower Financing). Our ELMSelect Tool provides a historical lender list for Rice Business that may assist your search. Select "International" from the drop-down menu and then select "view Loans".
Please note that you are not limited to this list and may apply with any lending institution of your choice.
We encourage you to request more information to get to know us better.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you cannot find a question to your answer below, please reach out to us at ricemba@rice.edu.
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No. The institution does not act as a co-signer or guarantor of student loans.
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Soon after you are admitted to the program and have submitted your enrollment deposit, you will need to begin the the visa process with the Office of International Students. As part of that process, you will have to show that you have sufficient funding to cover the estimated cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses.
In order to expedite this process, we recommend students begin applying for a private loan as soon as possible.
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In deciding how much to borrow, you should request sufficient funding to cover your expected costs for the full academic year (Fall + Spring). A school's Cost of Attendance lists various costs that you should consider when setting your budget. The cost of attendance also represents the maximum amount of funding you can receive (including scholarship funds) each year.