For the 3rd year in a row Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad has announced the fee hike for its PGP programmes and for consecutive second year the apt time found to increase the fee is occasion of Convocation 2018. During the last three years IIM Ahmedabad has increased the fee for its flagship programme from Rs. 19.5 lakhs to Rs.22 lakhs.
“Like every year, there will be a rise in fee. In line with inflation, we shall be raising it by five per cent. For PGP program the new fee will be Rs. 22 lakh for two years” Prof. Errol D'Souza Director IIM Ahmedabad.
For the 3rd year in a row Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad has announced the fee hike for its PGP programmes and for consecutive second year the apt time found to increase the fee is occasion of Convocation 2018 which was held on March 24 at main campus of IIM Ahmedabad.
576 students at IIM Ahmedabad were awarded their degrees at the convocation ceremony. The number included 398 students from PGP (management) batch of 2016-18, 47 from PGP (FABM) batch of 2016-18, 115 from PGPX batch of 2017-18, and 16 from FPM programme.
Fee Increase to continue
IIM Ahmedabad has increased the fee for its flagship PGP 2018-20 batch by Rs. 1 lakh on the occasion of its 53rd Convocation. Last year also on the occasion of the 52nd Convocation, IIM Ahmedabad announced the fee hike by Rs. 1.5 lakhs.
During the last three years IIM Ahmedabad has increased the fee for its flagship programme from Rs. 19.5 lakhs to Rs.22 lakhs. In the year 2016, fee was increased to Rs.19.5 lakhs and then in 2017 it was hiked to Rs.21 lakhs and now it has again been increased to Rs.22 lakhs.
Announcing the decision on the day of 53rd Convocation held on March 24, Prof. Erol D'Souza Director IIM Ahmedabad said “There was a discussion with regard to the fee. Like every year, there will be a rise in fee. In line with inflation, we shall be raising it by five per cent. For PGP program the new fee will be Rs. 22 lakh for two years. There will be five per cent increase in PGPX (Post Graduate Programme for Executives) fee as well.”
Yearly fee hike in top MBA Colleges: MBA aspirants in dilemma
Since 2016, IIM Ahmedabad has been rising its fee for management programmes. Other IIMs like IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode among others have also followed the suit and have made their programmes more expensive.
Following the fee spurt by IIMs, other top MBA/PGDM colleges have also resorted to fee rise. The fee at SPJIMR, MDI, IMI, IMT, JBIMS among other top MBA colleges has also gone up substantially.
The rising trend in MBA fee in top MBA colleges is making the MBA aspirants think twice before they finalize their admission. However high RoI comes handy when the decision to opt for the top MBA college is taken by the MBA aspirants.
High RoI: The decisive factor
Going by the fee structure and current MBA placement trends, it is found that entire amount invested to pursue MBA/PGDM is recovered in not more than a few months or at the maximum in a year or two after getting placed at the campus.
B-School
Fee Structure (Rs. in lakhs)
Average Placement (Rs. in lakhs per year)
RoI (investment recovery period)
IIM Ahmedabad
Year - 2018
Year 2017
Year 2016
22.00
21.00
19.50
Data after IPRS
22.58
22.14
Less than 1 year
IIM Bangalore
Year 2018
Year - 2017
Year - 2016
Not announced hike
19.50
18.70
Data after IPRS
21.42
21.03
Less than 1 year
IIM Calcutta
19.00
22.00
Less than 1 year
IIM Indore
Year 2018
Year 2017
14.00
13.00
18.17
16.23
Less than 1 year
IIM Kozhikode
16.00
17.10
Less than 1 year
BIMTECH Greater Noida
10.00
7.51
1 year 5 months
FMS Delhi
0.25
21.1
Less than a month
IMI Delhi
15.41
12.23
1 year 4 months appx
IMT Ghaziabad
16.50
11.60
1 year 3 months
MDI Gurgaon
19.81
19.17
Around 1 year
SPJIMR, Mumbai
16.00
22.24
9 months
XLRI, Jamshedpur
20.00
20.10
Less than 1 year
RoI period has increased
There is no doubt that the top MBA/PGDM colleges except FMS Delhi have resorted to steep fee hike due to which the RoI period has also increased. In some cases it has increased from 1 year to one and a half year due to fee hike in the range of 5 to 15% while the average salay has not gone up by the same ratio.
MBA aspirants undeterred
However, the Return on Investment, despite the steep hike in fee, still attracts more and more MBA aspirants and the numbe is increasing year after year. This is evident by the increasing number of registrations in CAT 2017, XAT 2018, CMAT 2018 and even state level MAHCET 2018 exams which have recorded higher number of candidates applying for MBA courses and taking the eligibility exam to explore admission opportunity in the top MBA colleges.
Accordingly, the fee hike does not appear to have made any impact on MBA aspirants, as the placement in 2017 and 2018 have gone higher than earlier seasons. With the anticipated increase in RoI, MBA aspirants are ready to face some hardship for a year or two after completion of their MBA while making repayment of the funds they propose to borrow with the interest.
IIM Ahmedabad celebrated its 53rd Annual Convocation on Saturday, March 24, 2018, at its main campus with Dr Janmejaya Sinha, Chairman, Asia-Pacific region and member of the firm's Executive Committee at The Boston Consulting Group as the Chief Guest who delivered the convocation address. Delivering the Convocation address Sinha shared his six "life lessons" and one of these lessons, according to him, is that one should build on one's strengths rather than spend the life trying to fix the weaknesses. He said "Enhance your strengths. Be the best that you can be in the areas that you are good. Contain your weaknesses to acceptable levels but don't try and make your weaknesses into strength" and also advised passing out graduates not to become a "victim" and waste time in complaining.
Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the IIM Ahmedabad could not make himself present on the occasion and the welcome address was delivered by "Acting Chairman" - Dr. Srikant M. Datar, Arthur Lowes Dickinson Professor of Accounting & Senior Associate Dean, Harvard University. The concluding address was delivered by Prof. Errol D'Souza, Director of IIM Ahmedabad.
