IIM Ahmedabad hikes MBA fees; others may follow suit

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has hiked the fee for its postgraduate programme in management to Rs 23 lakh from 2019 onward. Sources told Moneycontrol the other IIMs may also follow suit and hike the fee by 3-4.5 percent in this year.

The institute cited inflationary pressures as the reason to increase the fees for this academic year.

IIM-A has hiked its fees for the fourth year in a row. Last year, the fee was hiked from Rs 21 lakh to Rs 22 lakh.

“Costs have been on the rise and the fees are inadequate to meet the rising expenses. Fees could rise by up to 4.5 percent across the institutes. But students can get access to the scholarship opportunities,” said a senior IIM executive.

This decision will be taken ahead of the start of the current academic session in June/July 2019.

There are a total of 20 IIMs in the country. Among these, the ones at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta and Lucknow are considered the older IIMs. IIM Kozhikode, Indore and Shillong are among the ones that were set up between 1996 and 2010. All of them put together constitute the first generation IIMs.

The rest are part of the new generation of the IIMs. These include the institutes at Rohtak, Ranchi, Raipur, Trichy, Kashipur, Udaipur, Nagpur, Amritsar, Bodh Gaya, Sirmaur, Sambalpur, Jammu and Visakhapatnam.

The board of the individual IIMs are expected to meet over the next few weeks to decide on the fee structure. Each IIMs has a different fee structure and this is reviewed annually.

The fee ranges from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 23 lakh across the various IIMs for the two-year postgraduate management programme. IIM Ahmedabad is the most expensive among the IIMs and is considered the best institute in the country for pursuing a management degree.

Sources also added that the older IIMs may see a higher fee hike than the newer ones. The newer IIMs may see a marginal increase or a rise by 1-2 percent for the PGP programme.

While they are centrally funded institutes, the IIMs have the autonomy to decide their fee structure.

In Budget 2018-19, the IIMs were proposed to be given an allocation of Rs 1,036 crore. But the actual grant was Rs 372 crore. In the interim budget for 2019-20, IIMs are proposed to be given Rs 415.41 crore.

While the fees are on the rise, the placement scenario at these business schools has improved. While some of the premier IIM do not reveal salary details, sources told Moneycontrol that there was a 15-20 percent increase in compensation packages offered by top companies.