For Release: February 14, 2000
Contact: HBS Communications
(617) 495-6155
By Steve Nelson and Margot Keiper
Harvard Business School announced today revisions in its Non-Profit/Public Interest Loan Forgiveness Program. The purpose of the program is to enable MBA students to enter the nonprofit and social sector, and to offer the School’s assistance in making such a career decision more economically feasible. Graduates from the Class of 1999 and forward are eligible to apply for the program.
"My dream is that more MBAs will become full-time not-for-profit senior managers, bringing to these organizations the same management talent available in the corporate sector," said John Whitehead (MBA ’47), Chair of the Advisory Board for the School’s Initiative on Social Enterprise. Whitehead is chairman of the Goldman Sachs Foundation; chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; and former co-chairman of Goldman, Sachs & Co. and U.S. deputy secretary of state. He currently plays major roles in several national and international nonprofit organizations, including the International Rescue Committee, United Nations Association of the USA, and The Nature Conservancy.
Major revisions in the program include extending graduate eligibility from 5 years of aid to up to 10 years after the date of graduation; lifting the current salary cap of $56,000; and introducing a process to make the award a forgivable loan, thereby allowing the payments to recipients to be nontaxable in many cases. Graduates calculate their payments toward their need-based loans according to their salaries, and Harvard Business School will award the graduate funds to cover repayments above the required contribution.
According to Steve Nelson (MBA ’88), Executive Director of the Initiative on Social Enterprise, "Harvard Business School has committed increased resources to this program because of the significant impact our MBAs can have in the nonprofit sector."
An example is Josh Wallack (MBA ’99), who took a position as Director of Business Development at The Fifth Avenue Committee (a community based organization in Brooklyn focused on affordable housing and economic development) after graduation. "The loan forgiveness program was a major factor in my decision to attend Harvard Business School," said Wallack. "The new features of the program will make it possible for me to work for a smaller organization at the grassroots level, where I think the skills I learned at HBS can have a tremendous impact."
The program was revised by a task force of students, administrators, and faculty affiliated with the Initiative on Social Enterprise. The Initiative is a major effort at Harvard Business School focusing on nonprofit organizations and other private social-purpose enterprises. It was created to respond to the growing social and economic importance of the nonprofit sector and its ever-increasing interrelationship with business.
For more information and an application, contact Margot Keiper, Assistant Director, Harvard Business School’s Initiative on Social Enterprise at (617) 495-6633.
Contact: HBS Communications
(617) 495-6155
HBS Revises Non-Profit and Public Interest Loan Forgiveness Program Changes Designed to Help Students Entering Nonprofit Sector
By Steve Nelson and Margot Keiper
Harvard Business School announced today revisions in its Non-Profit/Public Interest Loan Forgiveness Program. The purpose of the program is to enable MBA students to enter the nonprofit and social sector, and to offer the School’s assistance in making such a career decision more economically feasible. Graduates from the Class of 1999 and forward are eligible to apply for the program.
"My dream is that more MBAs will become full-time not-for-profit senior managers, bringing to these organizations the same management talent available in the corporate sector," said John Whitehead (MBA ’47), Chair of the Advisory Board for the School’s Initiative on Social Enterprise. Whitehead is chairman of the Goldman Sachs Foundation; chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; and former co-chairman of Goldman, Sachs & Co. and U.S. deputy secretary of state. He currently plays major roles in several national and international nonprofit organizations, including the International Rescue Committee, United Nations Association of the USA, and The Nature Conservancy.
Major revisions in the program include extending graduate eligibility from 5 years of aid to up to 10 years after the date of graduation; lifting the current salary cap of $56,000; and introducing a process to make the award a forgivable loan, thereby allowing the payments to recipients to be nontaxable in many cases. Graduates calculate their payments toward their need-based loans according to their salaries, and Harvard Business School will award the graduate funds to cover repayments above the required contribution.
According to Steve Nelson (MBA ’88), Executive Director of the Initiative on Social Enterprise, "Harvard Business School has committed increased resources to this program because of the significant impact our MBAs can have in the nonprofit sector."
An example is Josh Wallack (MBA ’99), who took a position as Director of Business Development at The Fifth Avenue Committee (a community based organization in Brooklyn focused on affordable housing and economic development) after graduation. "The loan forgiveness program was a major factor in my decision to attend Harvard Business School," said Wallack. "The new features of the program will make it possible for me to work for a smaller organization at the grassroots level, where I think the skills I learned at HBS can have a tremendous impact."
The program was revised by a task force of students, administrators, and faculty affiliated with the Initiative on Social Enterprise. The Initiative is a major effort at Harvard Business School focusing on nonprofit organizations and other private social-purpose enterprises. It was created to respond to the growing social and economic importance of the nonprofit sector and its ever-increasing interrelationship with business.
For more information and an application, contact Margot Keiper, Assistant Director, Harvard Business School’s Initiative on Social Enterprise at (617) 495-6633.