S6E6: The Bootstrap Myth: Overcoming Financial Barriers to Higher Education
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In today’s episode, we’re focusing on the role of higher education in creating lifelong economic opportunities. Research shows that the average college graduate is 24% more likely to be employed than their peers who have only completed a high school degree.
At the same time, college is not accessible to everyone. According to the National Center for Education statistics, over 85% of college students receive some form of financial aid. Here to talk about the role of scholarships in increasing college access and lifetime economic opportunity is Mbe Agbor.
Mbe spent his career in the consumer packaged goods industry where he worked for Unilever and Reckitt. Mbe now invests in real estate and small start-ups. He also owns and operates Sosega Nigeria FZE, a cashew farming and processing operation in Nigeria.
MBE earned his BS in marketing and business management at the David Eccles School of Business and earned an MBA from the Eccles School in 2001.
Mbe and host Frances Johnson will delve into his personal journey and how his family influenced his pursuit of higher education, the added stress of overcoming financial barriers, and Mbe’s belief that college is a great equalizer, providing students with the confidence to pursue their ambitions.
Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM.
Episode Quotes:
The impact of meeting your scholarship donor
[11:55] When we talk about what kind of impact we could have in the lives of young people, we could all give something. It might not be money, right? It might be time and these resources, just to the fact that we just have more road miles than these college students and we’ve seen and maybe been through some pitfalls, that we can give a little bit of advice and be a sounding board.
That was a part that I really enjoyed, even though I got to see Jack once a year. It was great; he asked about how school was going, and it was just great to talk to somebody that is directly involved in and invested in my future and my success.
Real happiness comes from contributing
[24:05]: I think this whole thing comes down to being happy. I think we substitute education for that and substitute money for that. We substitute a whole bunch of things for that. But at the end of the day, when we get to achieve the things that we set out to achieve, yes, happiness is quantified by a certain income level, but once we reach that, we don’t have to worry about food for shelter and safety and have a car that works and things like that, and we’re able to be happy, and not only happy, I want to be happy, but also happiness also comes from contributing, and so if that happiness can be shared by giving of themselves, whether financially or their time to someone else that needs a boot, then no matter where they go in life, no matter how successful they are, if they’re happy and are contributing, that’s making it right. That’s being successful in life.
Mbe’s biggest takeaway from college
[23:17]: College gave me the confidence to know that the only limit is me, and that’s probably the biggest takeaway I took from the experience.
On pulling yourself up by your bootstraps
[09:05]: I think one thing that people don’t realize is that there are a lot of people who don’t have boots. And everybody just assumes that everybody has boots to pull themselves up by. And really, I think what scholarships do is give everybody boots, or bootstraps, I guess. I think once we get to the playing field, people can show what they’re capable of. But if we can’t even make it into the stadium, right? How is somebody going to get an opportunity to perform?
