Overview
Admissions Overview
We are excited that you have considered earning a Master in Central Banking (MCB) degree at Asia School of Business, and look forward to getting to know you through your application.
The MCB program is designed for central bankers with substantial work experience. Ideal candidates are smart, curious and thoughtful decision-makers who initiate the change they want to see in the world.
If you are a high-potential central banker looking for global experience, we invite you to submit an application to the MCB program today.
Admissions
Admissions Deadline
Applications for the September 2025 MCB intake is now open!
Applications for the 2025 MCB intake will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Applications are due by 3:00 pm Malaysia Standard Time on the deadline date, including all required documents and recommendation letters.
MONDAY
MARCH 31, 2025
ROUND 1
FRIDAY
MARCH 29, 2024
Criteria
Admission Criteria
The MCB program seeks outstanding, mature individuals who are capable of thriving in a dynamic, rigorous learning environment with academic and professional standards similar to those of MIT graduate programs. The ideal MCB candidate will have substantial experience working in a central bank or other public institutions that carry out related functions such as financial supervision/regulation and sovereign wealth management from around the world and will have been nominated by the central bank or the public institutions where the candidate is working.
Applicants need to meet the following minimum requirements, set by the Ministry of Higher Education in Malaysia, to be considered for admission:
- A Bachelor’s Degree in the fields or related fields with a minimum CGPA of 2.50 or equivalent as accepted by the ASB Senate; or
- A Bachelor’s Degree in the fields or related fields or equivalent with a minimum CGPA of 2.00 and not meeting a CGPA of 2.50 can be accepted, subject to rigorous internal assessment.
- Candidates without a qualification in the related fields or working experience in the relevant fields must undergo appropriate prerequisite courses determined by ASB and meet the minimum CGPA based on (1) to (2). A letter from the Central Bank on applicant’s working experience is required as a supporting document.
- Proof of English proficiency.
Process
Admission process
At ASB, Action Learning is embedded into everything we do. Every semester, students can select from over a dozen Action Learning projects spread across the world depending on their industry and subject of interest.
Online Application
Prospective students complete the application and all necessary components. There is no application fee.
Evaluation
The application is read and reviewed by the Admissions Committee and a decision is made whether the applicant will be invited to interview.
Interview
Successful applicants are invited for an in-person or Skype interview with a member of the Admissions Committee.
Decision
The Admissions Committee decides whether to admit the applicant to the program.
Instruction
Application Instructions
We are looking forward to getting to know you better through your online application. As you move through the online application, please be sure to read the instructions closely for each section. We encourage you to provide as much information in your application as possible.
The online application requires you to submit a number of personal, academic and employment details. ASB reserves the right not to review applications that are incomplete, do not meet our minimum requirements, or do not comply with the application instructions. Additionally, in order to submit a completed application, the below materials are required.
Please use the cover letter as your way of introducing yourself to the admissions committee. Focus on answering these two questions:
- Why do you want to pursue the Master in Central Banking from ASB?
- What value will you uniquely contribute to this program?
- Any additional information you would like the Admissions Committee to know that may be helpful in evaluating your candidacy (i.e. something you feel strongly about that is not articulated elsewhere in your application, your choice of recommenders, areas of concern in your academic record, any employment gaps (particularly those exceeding 3 months, other extenuating circumstances, etc.).
The Cover Letter should be succinct and tie together your past experiences, your goals for the future, and how the Master in Central Banking can help you achieve them.
Your letter should conform to a standard business correspondence and should be addressed to the Master in Central Banking Admissions Committee (500 words or fewer).
Please submit an updated resume that includes your work experience and educational experience in reverse chronological order. It should indicate dates by month/year. It should focus on accomplishments. Extracurricular and other information appropriate to a business resume is welcomed and encouraged.
Your resume should NOT exceed 2 pages in length.
You are required to submit ONE essay.
Important Notes:
- Please only answer one of the below essay questions and include the question prompt you have selected at the top of your document
- Maximum length for the essay is 500 words
Essay Question Options:
- How have you had to adapt the way you achieved your work objectives, in response to Covid-19. Do you think these changes will be durable?
- Give an example of adoption of digital technology in your central bank. How has digitization changed processes, work flows and/or decision-making?
All applicants must have a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in order to apply to the Master in Central Banking program. Applicants with an equivalent of a Bachelor’s degree (particularly if your transcript or degree certificate does not explicitly mention it is a Bachelor’s degree) must provide an official explanation from your academic institution or governing body (i.e. Ministry of Education) that clarifies the equivalency of your qualification to a Bachelor’s degree.
TRANSCRIPTS
Please scan and upload copies of your official academic transcripts from all institutions from which you earned a degree especially your undergraduate degree. If a transcript is not written in English, you must provide a notarized translation. The original and the notarized English translation should be scanned and uploaded as part of your application.
If your educational institution does not use a 4.0 Grade Point Average (GPA) grading scale, you must ensure that your transcripts include a description of the grading scale. If your transcripts do not provide this information, you must submit supplemental official documentation describing the grading scale used. It will also be useful if you can provide supplemental official documentation that indicates the GPA (on a 4.0 scale) based on the grades or points awarded by your academic institution. You should include the supplemental document(s) within your transcript document upload when adding the institution within the “Academic History” section of the application.
An “unofficial” or student copy of transcripts can be provided during the application stage; however, if you are admitted to the MCB program, you will be required to submit an official transcript signed and sealed from every school attended that contributed to a degree. Any discrepancies between the scanned transcripts and official transcripts may result in a candidate’s rejection or a withdrawal of our offer of admission.
DEGREE CERTIFICATES/DIPLOMAS
Please submit a copy of all diplomas/degrees certificates for programs from which you have received a degree. If the original is not in English, you are required to submit a notarized English translation. You should upload your diploma/degree certificate as a separate document upload when adding the institution within the “Academic History” section of the application.
In order to obtain an international student visa to attend ASB, applicants are required to provide proof of their English proficiency. International applicants whose native language is English OR who have received a university undergraduate degree taught in English automatically fulfill this requirement. All other international applicants must provide proof of their English language proficiency by submitting one of the following supporting document or valid test scores (the minimum required score is in brackets):
- Supporting letter to confirm English language as the medium of instruction for the undergraduate degree if your degree is not from the UK, USA, Australia, or New Zealand; OR
- IELTS Academic (Overall band 6.0)*; OR
- TOEFL (Internet-based (60), Essentials (Online)(8.5))*; OR
- Cambridge English Advanced/Proficiency (169)*; OR
- Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic (59)*; OR
- Malaysian University English Test (MUET) (Band 4)
*We will only accept English language proficiency test scores taken within two years of the start date of the intake you are applying for. Therefore, for applicants planning to enter the MCB program in 2025, we only accept the above English language proficiency test scores taken after August 1, 2023.
All applicants who are required to provide proof of English language proficiency are responsible for ensuring that their official test score reports are sent to ASB.
- For IELTS, ASB’s RO name is “Asia School of Business”
- For TOEFL, ASB’s reporting code is B408
Important Notes:
- For Malaysian nationals who did not complete their undergraduate degree in English, you are required to submit either any of the ESL test scores above in accordance with the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysian guideline.
- ASB reserves the right to require that an applicant take one of the above-mentioned English Proficiency Exams
ONE Letter of Recommendation will be sufficient for the MCB application. However, we request you to provide two (2) recommenders and their relevant contact information in the event only one reference responds.
Professional recommendations are preferred from individuals who are able to speak with certainty about your professional achievements and potential. We do not accept recommendations from family members or friends.
The recommender(s) must submit an online recommendation. We do not accept any recommendation via email.
ASB utilizes the GMAC Common Letter of Recommendation online form. Please choose your recommender(s) who are able to provide specific answers to the following questions:
- Please provide a brief description of your interaction with the applicant and, if applicable, the applicant’s role in your organization.
- How does the performance of the applicant compare to that of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles?
- Describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please include the circumstances and the applicant’s response.
- Is there anything else we should know? (Optional)
Applicants must input the name and contact information for each recommender, including their professional email address. Upon saving the information, the recommender(s) will receive an email with instructions.
More information about the GMAC Common Letter of Recommendation can be found here.
Several corporate servers block our recommendation emails. We encourage you to confirm with your recommender(s) that he/she has received the email request. If your recommender(s) do not receive the relevant email, please ask them to check their spam/junk folders and add Asia School of Business (mcb.admissions@asb.edu.my) to their list of trusted senders. If your recommender(s) encounter difficulty submitting, please ask them to email the MCB team for assistance.
It is your responsibility to remind your recommender(s) of the application deadline in order for your application to be completed on time. Your application will not be considered complete until both recommendations have been submitted.
Important Notes
The MCB program is primarily for high-potential employees of central banks.
Employees of other public institutions that carry out related functions, such as financial supervision/regulation and sovereign wealth management may also be considered for admission. If you would like to check your eligibility, please contact us at mcb.admissions@asb.edu.my.
If you are currently not employed by a central bank or related institution, please reach out to admissions@asb.edu.my to discuss other degree programs that may better suite your profile.
Applications for the 2025 MCB intake will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
International students are especially encouraged to apply early due to timelines for processing student visa applications. Applications are due by 3:00 pm Malaysia Standard Time on the deadline date, including all required documents and recommendation letters:
Monday, March 31, 2025
*In exceptional circumstances, the admissions team may be in a position to grant an extension to the application deadline. To request an extension, please email the MCB team with the email heading: “APPLICATION DEADLINE EXTENSION REQUEST” and in the email explain why you are requesting for an extension. Extensions are at the discretion of the admissions committee and all decisions are final.
There is no application fee.
Interviews will be scheduled by invitation only, after an initial evaluation of a completed application. Depending on the availability and location of the interviewer and applicant, we will conduct an in-person interview or Zoom interview. Our interview schedule is built based on the distribution of the applicant pool received. Selected applicants will be sent an email notification with a link to register for the interview. We try to give at least one week advance notice of the interview schedule date/time.
The Admissions Committee gives every application the fullest possible review and does not consider appeals of admissions decisions. All applicants are informed of admission decisions through the online application system, including those who do not get invited to interview.
Applicants admitted to the program early enough in the admissions cycle will be invited to attend ASB events (details will be made available to admitted students) and all are welcome to visit our campus. Campus visitors must make an appointment by emailing mcb.admissions@asb.edu.my with 2-3 suggested dates and times.
For information regarding the MCB program fees, please visit our Master in Central Banking page under the “Fee and Financing” section or email us at mcb.admissions@asb.edu.my.
Monday, 18 August 2025: ASB Residential facilities available for move-in
Thursday, 21 August 2025: International student arrival deadline
Monday, 25 August 2025: Day 1 of 1-week Orientation
Tuesday, 2 September 2025: 1st Day of MCB class
The ASB MCB program will officially kick off with a compulsory one-week orientation program beginning August 25, 2025. All students are required to attend the full orientation program.
*Schedule and dates are subject to change
The MCB team is here to support you. If you have any questions, please email us at mcb.admissions@asb.edu.my. We operate as a small team, and our response time depends on the volume of inquiries received.