IIM Lucknow hikes 15% fee for PGP 2017-19 batch; seeks parity with IIM-Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta

After the substantial fee increase finalized by IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore, IIM Lucknow has also decided to increase the fee for PGP 2017-19 but still remains much behind the top 3 IIMs- namely IIM-A, IIM-B and IIM-C.

After giving relief in 2013 by reducing its fee, IIM Lucknow proposes to hike its fee for flagship Post Graduate Programme in Management 2017-19 batch by 15%.  The proposed fee hike, according to the IIM Lucknow director, Prof Ajit Prasad is because ‘We want to be at par with the three league IIMs at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata.’

Earlier IIMs used to increase their fee with a gap of 2-3 years but now the fee increase at top IIMs has become an annual feature. IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore had increased their fee last year and now the fee has again been increased in 2017.

Almost all the top rated B schools whether IIMs or non-IIMs have already increased their fee for MBA/PGDM programmes. Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow has so far the lowest fee structure despite being ranked among the top 4 IIMs of the country after IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta to make the IIM Lucknow management programme more affordable. In 2016, IIM Lucknow increased the fee by 30% and brought it at Rs.14 lakhs. With another 15 % increase the fee at IIM Lucknow is set to rise to Rs.16 lakhs now.

Fee structure at IIM Lucknow
During past 5 years and now after the proposed increase of 15%, the fee structure for flagship PGP in Management at IIM Lucknow is as follows-

The proposed fee hike needs approval of the Board of Governors (BoG) of IIM Lucknow.

Other IIMs & top B-schools already hiked the fee
IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode, MDI, SPJIMR, XLRI among others have already increased their fee in a range of 7% to 30% http://www.mbauniverse.com/article/id/9482/IIM-Fee-Hike. ISB has also followed IIMs and has increased the programme fee to Rs. 24 lakhs.

Great learning & high RoI justify the fee hike
Going by the fee structure and current placement trends in number of B-schools, it is evident 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.

Accordingly, the fee hike does not appear to have made any impact on MBA aspirants, as the placement in 2016 and 2017 have gone very high and with the anticipated high 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.

If you receive the admission offer from a good B-school but have no money to pursue MBA, you should not worry. Almost all the good B-schools have different financial institutions and banks at their campus. These banks offer education loans almost for the full amount of the fee on favourable interest rates and also ask for fewer documents to complete the process.

Not only the loan will be sanctioned and disbursed to pursue MBA/PGDM from a top B-school, the interest concessions will also be made available to you if you continue repaying the interest part during the course period. The EMI for repayment would start when you get the job or after 1 year from the date of completion of the course whichever is earlier. Although you are able to repay the loan amount in a year or two, Bank would ask you to avail not less than 3 years or 5 years repayment window. Accordingly you should not be worried about fund arrangement to pursue your MBA.

If you are a selected candidate for MBA 2017-19 at any B-School, please weigh all pros & cons on all parameters like infrastructure, learning, placement, legacy apart from the revised fee structure before arriving at the final admission decision to your preferred B-school.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on MBA Admission 2017