Bus rides to boardrooms: A PGDBA success story

Student Success

23 Jun 2026

It was those early morning bus rides that she remembers so well. The slow crawl through Johannesburg's inner city, half-asleep commuters pressed against windows, the city still waking up around them. Mauricia Forbes was young, straight out of school, working her first job in retail, but her sight was firmly set on where she wanted to go. Every morning, the Standard Bank building slid past her window. And every morning, the same quiet knowing: that's where I want to be.

That was 35 years ago. Today, Mauricia is a senior leader in credit risk and compliance at Standard Bank, and a recent graduate of the Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration (PGDBA) at Milpark Education. But the road between those two moments started with nothing more than a bus ride and a refusal to wait.

She had no tertiary education, no experience suitable for banking, and no easy way in. So she made one. She started talking to the people around her, fellow commuters, strangers sharing the same route, the same early hours. One of them was a woman who worked in banking. A few bus rides turned into a few conversations. A few conversations turned into a friendship. And one day, that friendship turned into a CV on the desk of Standard Bank's HR department.

The start of a long career in banking

Standard Bank took a chance on her. The role was as junior as it gets, but Mauricia had a "foot in the door", and that was enough to start. She forged her own path from there, enrolling for a Certificate in Banking, then a Diploma, then climbing into credit risk and eventually being headhunted into RMB Private Bank by a former boss who saw what she could become.

Then life happened. A restructure at Barclays Wealth saw her let go. Last in, first out. What followed was 18 months without employment, over 7 000 job applications, and 18 interviews. All while finishing her Bachelor of Commerce degree and raising two children. "It didn't break me," she says. When she joined Standard Bank again, she landed in a senior leadership role in credit risk and compliance. She was stable, well-positioned, and could have settled. But that's not the story she wanted to tell her kids.

Her grandfather had told her once: "They can take anything away from you, but they can never take away your education." She'd carried those words her whole career, and she wasn't done living up to them. So shortly after joining, she enrolled for the Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration (PGDBA) at Milpark Education.

Balancing senior management and studies

For 18 months, Mauricia carried the PGDBA alongside everything else, studying through Milpark's Immersive Online Learning (IO Learning) model.

Her days started on the road by 06:00. A full senior leadership role in credit risk and compliance. Meetings, assessments, and decisions that carried real consequence. Then, when the workday ended, the studying began. Evenings after dinner. Weekends from morning until the work was done. Some nights, she didn't stop until past midnight. Unlike her BCom, which had been largely self-directed, the PGDBA was structured around guided learning and group collaboration – a rhythm that kept her accountable but demanded more of her time than studying alone ever had.

The sacrifices were real, and they weren't always pleasant. Special occasions were always on a tight time budget. Her children only got bits and pieces of her, and her husband had to keep things together. She remembers someone asking, "Do you have time to just go out and watch a movie?" And she really felt like she didn't even have that time.

At times, the load was simply more than the hours in a day could hold. Work deadlines collided with study deadlines. Due dates stacked on top of each other with no breathing room in between. There were moments when she questioned whether it was physically possible to keep going at this pace. But discipline kept her moving. And this is how she’d grown throughout her career, by showing up time and again.

Explore the Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration (PGDBA)

Innovation in banking with a PGDBA

Mauricia finished the programme in December 2025. Within months, the evidence of what it had done was already showing up in her work.

She speaks fondly of the programme, particularly the design thinking and research methodology modules. Something she could apply directly to her role in banking. She credits the role of her lecturers at Milpark and remembers the role they played during her studies. They were always willing to go the extra mile, always accessible. Especially when she needed help with a difficult subject like financial management and accounting.

And what she learned, she put to work. Two innovations, both rooted in design thinking, have already been implemented at Standard Bank. The first went national in March 2026. The second has been approved for use in Exco and provincial-level meetings. She's using what she learned, and this is something that excites her.

But the shift goes beyond projects and processes. The programme changed how she communicates, how she leads, and how she interacts with people at every level. "It's how you bring your questions across and how you interact with people," she says. "At all levels, not just at a leadership role level."

"If I look at how I deal with things now versus before I did the PGDBA," she says, "there's a vast change." The programme didn't add information to what she already knew after 35 years. It changed the way she thinks.

A step closer to the end goal

In March 2026, Mauricia Forbes walked across the stage. After 18 months of early mornings, late nights, and weekends she'll never get back, the moment was finally here. The relief hit first. Then the joy. Then a wave of gratitude she wasn't expecting. "If the graduation could have happened the day after I finished, I would have loved that," she says. She'd been counting down.

Her husband was in the audience; he'd always been her rock, and he'd planned a weekend away to celebrate. Her daughters couldn't be there, but they didn't need to be. They'd watched their mother study through late nights and lost weekends for years, and it had already shaped the choices they were making in their own careers.

Somewhere beneath the cap and gown, her grandfather's words were still there. Quiet. Proven. The woman on the bus had become the woman on the stage.

Final thoughts

Mauricia isn't done; she's two levels from executive and her aspiration is a doctorate. She's already helping colleagues at Standard Bank find their way to Milpark, because she's convinced that this is a recipe to success. When asked what it takes, her answer is simple: "You have to be disciplined. If you put your mind to something, you must be dedicated to complete it."

To anyone still weighing it up: "There is no perfect time. If you're willing to feel uncomfortable, you're disciplined, and you're open to learning, you can achieve it. Apply today and take the next step in your career.

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