Good MBA institutes are setting up newer campuses, which is a good thing, says MDRA's executive director

In general, i have plenty of reasons to be more optimistic about management education in India. The good MBA institutes are spreading their wings like never before. Currently, we have 20 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) compared with seven about a decade ago. Similarly, the top B-schools in the country, such as SPJIMR, MDI, IIFT, IMI, IMT, NMIMS and Symbiosis, now have multiple campuses, and more intake capability. At the same time, many of the B-schools with poor infrastructure, weak pedagogy, [or those that] practically operate as glorified placement agencies are shutting down their institutes.

All this would certainly help produce better quality of management graduates for the corporate sector, and should positively impact the economy as well.

Post-pandemic, there is further renewed optimism about business education in India. At least insights generated using the data collected from various sources (such as Business Today-MDRA rankings objective data, AICTE, CAT 2022 Convenor, AACSB, AMBA, EQUIS, global ranking publications, etc.) indicate so. Some examples:

1. As per the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the apex body for regulating technical education (yes, for the uninitiated, the government still classifies MBA/PGDM under technical education) in India, 276 full-time MBA courses had applied for progressive closure in academic year (AY) 2020-21; this number has reduced to 65 in AY2021-22. While the pace of B-school closure has slowed down in recent years, the intake of students has seen an uptick.

2. This is reflected in the revenues earned through management development programmes (MDPs) conducted by the B-schools. Revenue from MDPs grew 61 per cent in AY2021-22 compared to a 38 per cent decline in AY2020-21.

3. The outgoing batch of 2022 (the so-called pandemic batch) of the top 100 B-schools was most privileged with a sharp rise of 18 per cent in placement offers (annual domestic salary offered) against a meagre increase of 1.22 per cent in the last academic year. Meanwhile, the course fees at the top 100 B-schools have increased only by 3.26 per cent in the AY2021-22. Thereby the return on investment (RoI) has also gone up for MBA education in India.

4. The average batch strength of B-schools in AY2021-22 has also increased to a record high. It has gone up by 2.13 per cent among the top 100 B-schools and 6.55 per cent among top 10 B-schools in the country.

5. Registrations for the Common Admission Test (CAT), the most prestigious entrance exam for admission to the top MBA colleges in India, have jumped by 11 per cent in 2022. While there were 230,000 registrations for CAT 2021, the number has gone up to an estimated 255,000 for 2022, the highest in the past 12 years.

6. Indian B-schools are increasingly being counted among the top global institutes. For instance, QS Global MBA Rankings 2023 has nine Indian B-schools in its list, compared to seven in the previous rankings. Further, in terms of ranks, most Indian B-schools have gained: For instance, IIM Ahmedabad’s ranking has improved from 46 to 44; IIM Calcutta has moved up from 76 to 68; ISB Hyderabad has gone from 92 to 78; and institutes like XLRI and MDI have entered the 2023 rankings.

7. Another example of B-schools in India joining shoulders with top global B-schools is that the number of prestigious international accreditations (from AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS) has gone up from 23 in 2021 to 28 in the current year. This is quite encouraging, as it reflects that Indian B-schools are putting sincere and strategic efforts in improving their quality and competing with the world’s best business schools.

At the same time, there are certain aspects that are yet to recover from the pandemic.

1. The number of B-schools offering foreign exchange programmes has increased slightly in the current academic year from last year; however, it is yet to reach pre-Covid-19 levels. The same is true for the proportion of faculty going on foreign exchange programmes. Also, foreign placements have not been encouraging (multiple reasons could be attributed to this: the limited and long waits for visa, the fear of a global economic slump, etc.).

2. The proportion of those who opt for entrepreneurship instead of campus placements has gone down significantly, probably due to lesser confidence in business outlook and venture funding drying up.

3. Learning from the pandemic, the B-schools are trying to manage their expenses very carefully, especially the fixed costs. Among the top 10 colleges, the ratio of visiting faculty to the total faculty has gone up by 9 per cent and the trend is similar across colleges ranked below the top 10.

India recently took pride in becoming the world’s fifth-largest economy and Indians are shining in the global corporate sector as CEOs of some of the most advanced tech companies. It is imperative for the heads of the top Indian B-schools to keep the momentum and make India one of the most sought-after destinations for management education, at least by 2030 when India aims to become the world’s third-largest economy.

The author is Executive Director of MDRA (Marketing & Development Research Associates), and is an education enthusiast. Views are personal