Business Schools

Helping Foreign Students Cover the High Price of an MBA

Prodigy Finance extends credit to postgraduates across borders.

Illustration: Justyna Stasik for Bloomberg Businessweek

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By Nick Leiber

March 8, 2019 at 11:00 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

This article is part of the March 11, 2019 issue of businessweek.

When Marcelo Mazzafera was accepted into the MBA program at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, he couldn’t afford the tuition and living expenses. He also couldn’t find financing in his home country, Brazil. Mazzafera ended up taking loans recommended by Duke for students who don’t have a U.S. co-signer or collateral.

The interest rate was steep—about 7.25 percent plus the three-month London interbank offered rate, compared with the 2 percent to 3 percent plus three-month Libor paid by fellow students with co-signers. When Mazzafera graduated in May 2018, he owed about $180,000 plus interest. Then he heard about a new refinancing product that could reduce his interest rate to 5 percent plus three-month Libor. “It’s not ideal, but it’s better,” says Mazzafera, who earns $150,000 annually at his investment banking job in New York.