MBA Admission 2015: Be guided by AICTE Mandatory disclosure

With the regulatory power for MBA programmes in B schools across the country assigned to AICTE for next one year by the Supreme Court of India, uniformity in the process of MBA admission 2015 and on other important aspects in MBA education are expected to remain same in the B schools running AICTE approved programmes.

The B schools may not now highlight what they wish to share nor can they conceal those facts which may go against their USPs and may not further confuse the MBA aspirants with their boastful publicity since they have to place Mandatory disclosure a pre requisite from AICTE on their site.

In fact despite having MBA admission offers even from good B schools candidates are in a dilemma which B school to choose. Mandatory Disclosure as prescribed by AICTE displays all the relevant information related to the B school and can guide you well in choosing the best B school.

The process is that all the B schools have to apply to AICTE, the regulatory body to obtain various approvals on continuance of course, extension and expansion of the course, intake, number of faculty, infrastructure sharing realistic facts. The B schools are to make available these facts along with all the details of the institute on the B school website.

The details given in the Mandatory Disclosure document are important and an MBA aspirant should go through them before taking decision to choose the right B school.

Look for Current AICTE approval

The institute might bluff in any form but it has to submit the facts before the regulatory body, exaggeration or concealment of facts may pose trouble for the B school in the form of cancellation of approval, suspension of a particular course temporarily or permanent. The B schools therefore try to avoid both the situations.

Before taking a decision on admission, it will be a very good idea to spare a few minutes to read the mandatory disclosure well to find out that the B school enjoys the AICTE approval for current admission session also-overall as well as for the programme in which you are going to seek admission in particular. If satisfied you may go forward. If confused contact the B school as well as AICTE.

What is not available in MD

Return on Investment (ROI) or the placement data is not mentioned in the Mandatory Disclosure form of AICTE. The regulatory authority asks the institutes to upload their fee structure on their respective website. This can be understood as placement figures get changed and once the same is posted on the site, the institute that has to abide by it which may not be possible for the B school to update it after taking approval from AICTE every 2-3 months. The placement data as displayed on B schools website should be trusted as no other option is available.

Apart from this, the placement data as published by the B school is supposed to be the only source to know about their placement. Its quite possible that the b school has calculated its average placement taking into account domestic and international placements giving a rosy picture. To get to know this fact, its better to contact some student of the b school who has been the part of current placement process.

Programme offered & Intake

It is surprising but true that even before seeking and obtaining approval from the regulatory authority AICTE, a few B schools start taking the admission to various proposed MBA programmes. It is also possible that more than permissible strength is allowed to take admission to a particular course. Please remember that in case of non approval by AICTE, it will be difficult to take back the deposited money from these institutes.
Please thoroughly read in the mandatory disclosure about the approved Courses running at the institute, year of launching the course, number of shifts for the course, whether full time or part time whether the programme is accredited and the permissible intake in each programme.

Older the better

How old is the B school? When did it start functioning? This fact will let you decide better on admission criteria. Mandatory Disclosure carries this fact and if there is some mismatch between whats available in about us and Mandatory Disclosure, believe the statement in latter.

It is a fact that usually B schools established in some year may not be able to start functioning in the same year due to one or other problem. This gap between year of establishment and year of functioning could be of a few years also. The alumni base, corporate connections, learning experience, ROI all could get adversely affected if the B school is not old enough. It is advisable to cross check this fact also.

Faculty

Different type of faculty members are mentioned on the site of a B school like core, adjunct, guest, visiting and in some cases the administrative staff is clubbed to project better teacher student ratio at the institute. Sometimes you may find the number only without any segregation. This remains confusing to know the facts. AICTE Mandatory Disclosure by the B school has to carry this information on permanent faculty strength.

It will help you to assess the learning experience with teacher student ratio you are going to have at the institute. Higher the strength of core or permanent faculty better will be the learning environment at the institute

Very important is Infrastructure

Any institute can claim to have state of the art campus featured with many USPs but the fact could be, it may be running courses in hired campus. Even many new IIMs do not have their own campuses and are operating from hired campuses. Their campuses are neither ready nor operational till date although you may find great pictures of these campuses on their site. This fact can be ascertained by visiting the site of the institute and reading the mandatory disclosure available there.

According to AICTE regulatory directions, the B schools have to publish the entire open and covered area of the institute, number of lecture theatres and halls, class rooms, computer lab with number of available computers and their configuration, library with available number of books and national & international journals, its working hours and about its administrative block.

This will guide you to know how much the library and computer lab is used by the students. More they use them, better would be the learning environment at the institute. Some of the institutes keep their Library open till late in the night which indicates that the Library is rich with well collected books and periodicals and the students use the facility to the optimum level. It also reflects the B schools vision of imparting education.

Accommodation: check well

The good infrastructure may not necessarily mean availability of on campus hostel facility. It could be the off campus one, or you may have to search the accommodation on your own. The exact information may not be available on the B school site but Mandatory disclosure will contain this information about on campus/off campus or no hostel facility apart from other information like hostel accommodation capacity, number of 1,2,3 and 4 bedded rooms.

The institute which is old and has on campus facility should be preferred. Next could be the one whose campus is going to be ready in a short time. On campus hostel facility has its own advantages as they are equipped with numerous facilities like wi-fi, common room where recent periodicals and recreational facilities are available. Besides you have a good opportunity to interact with your peers as well as faculty members residing on campus in case of need. Security will also be better at the on campus hostel accommodation.