Alumna Jeanette Gerger used a Double Demon alumni scholarship to expand her skills.
Jeanette Gerger (BUS ’09) graduated from DePaul at the height of the recession that began in 2008. Even so, she was able to find a good job in market research due to her internships and the business skills she learned in class. Her father, a business owner and entrepreneur who inspired Gerger to study business, wanted her to join his company.
“I loved business, but my passion was in marketing,” says Gerger, explaining her decision to steer away from her family’s business and make her own career path.
After seven years working for market research and consumer packaged goods companies, progressing from account specialist and to account manager, Gerger decided she wanted to get into brand management. She noticed, however, that many of the job postings required an MBA.
While attending a career fair at DePaul, Gerger found out about the Double Demon scholarship available to DePaul alumni who return for graduate study at their alma mater.
The scholarship, plus a waiver of several courses and the GMAT requirement because of her undergraduate performance and work experience, made it a “no brainer” decision to enroll in DePaul’s MBA program. “Returning to school was a smart move for me because it allowed me to understand how to run a business,” she says. “Graduate school also afforded me an opportunity to change my career track. I am now interested in concentrating in entrepreneurship, in addition to brand management and exploring the family company.”
The Double Demon scholarship, which is open to alumni with undergraduate or graduate degrees from any DePaul college, covers 25 percent of the tuition for graduate study at the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business and other DePaul colleges and schools. The scholarship applies to alumni who enroll as part-time or full-time students. No separate application for the scholarship is necessary— all DePaul alumni admitted into a Kellstadt MBA or master’s degree program automatically qualify.
“The business landscape is constantly changing, and so our students find a lot of benefit in coming back to brush up on their skills to move up in their company or transition into a new career,” says Christa Hinton, assistant dean and director of the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. “We truly value our alumni and are happy to offer a great opportunity to make it affordable for them to come back to DePaul.”
Learn more about the Double Demon Scholarship:
Visit go.depaul.edu/alumnischolarships to find out more about the Double Demon scholarship.
By Andrew Zamorski
