MBA Admissions 2026 (Live Updates): IIFT, IMI, GIM, XIMB, FORE, TAPMI Admissions Closing Soon; Check Dates, Cut Offs, Fees, Placements for Top MBA Colleges

MBA admission process start date and last date are different for each college. Check exam accepted, application dates and application link for top MBA colleges in India from table below. 

Before we discuss college wise details, here is a brief overview of MBA admission 2026 process. MBA Admissions process is divided into following six steps. 

1. Take Entrance Exam: Candidates must appear in one or few MBA entrance exams like CAT 2025, XAT 2026, CMAT 2026, NMAT 2025, MAT 2025 or MAH MBA CET 2026. Top colleges have high score and percentile requirements. Check college-wise exam-wise cut offs below. Check MBA Entrance Exam Calendar 2025-26 for complete updates.
2. Apply to Selected B-schools: Along with entrance exam, you should select and apply to MBA colleges which meet your criteria like placements, fees, Cut Offs and others. MBA application fees vary from Rs 1,000 to Rs 3,000. So be careful in selecting the right colleges to apply. Official MBA admission forms 2026 links and MBA admission form PDF download are available in this article below.
3. Appear in Group Discussion (GD) and Personal Interview (PI): If your profile (pre-MBA academics, work experience and CAT/XAT scores) match college requirements and cut offs, you be shortlisting for final admission round. Final selection round involves appearing in Group discussion and Personal Interview.
4. Get Final Admission Confirmation & Pay Fees: From January to May 2026, MBA colleges will make MBA admissions 2026 offers. You should be ready to make fees payment and finalize your admission.

While the MBA eligibility and admission criteria vary, in general, candidates should meet the following minimum requirements:

1. Academic Qualification: A bachelor's degree in any discipline from a recognized university with a minimum aggregate score of 50% (45% for reserved categories).
2. Work Experience: This is not mandatory for MBA programs in India. But candidates with 12 months to 24 months are preferred by B-schools.
3. Entrance Exams Scores: Having good scores in MBA Entrance Exams like CAT, XAT, CMAT is an important MBA eligibility criterion.

Let’s now understand the admission requirements for IIMs. IIM Admission is a dream of everyone! But only a few get selected by the IIMs. Check IIM Admission Process below: 

• IIM Admission Academic Eligibility: The first requirement for IIM Admission is meeting Academic Eligibility. You should be a graduate with minimum 50% marks.
• Taking CAT Exam and Scoring Well: You should take CAT exam held in November every year and score well to meet IIM shortlisting requirements.
• Shortlist and Final Selection: Next stage is getting through IIM shortlisting process and appearing in IIM Personal Interview to get final admission offer
• CAT Registration 2025: CAT 2025 registration is open, and last date to apply for IIM Admission 2025 through CAT is September 13, 2025.
• IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2026 Policy released: Candidates from the General and EWS categories must now secure an overall CAT percentile of 95, in addition to a minimum of 85 percentile in each of the three sections.
• IIM Lucknow Admissions 2026 Policy released: CAT 2025 Cut Off for IIM Lucknow MBA Shortlisting candidates is 90% for general candidates. CAT 2025 Weightage in final selection is 30 percent only, while the weightage for Personal Interview is higher. 

IIM Minimum Cut Offs - RTI Data 
While the average Cut off for Top IIMs is 98-99%, do candidates will relatively low CAT Cut Offs stand a chance of get IIM Calls? Yes, as per the RTI Data, candidates with low cut offs but with exceptional profiles do have a chance to get IIM calls. Check these minimum overall percentiles of candidates admitted to IIMs in 2025.

IIM Shortlist Announcement Dates 

Check IIM PI shortlist announcement dates for leading IIMs. Data for 2025 and 2024 is based on official announcements, while 2026 dates are expected dates.

• IIM Kozhikode — Stage 1 Announced on 31st Dec; PI Shortlist on 15th Jan — Stage 1 Announced on 4th Jan; PI Shortlist 25th Jan. 

• IIM Vizag — Stage 1 Announced on 10th Jan — Stage 1 Announced 6th Jan

IIM JAP 2026 by IIM Kashipur, IIM Raipur, IIM Ranchi and IIM Trichy 
Four Indian Institutes of Management — IIM Kashipur, IIIM Raipur, IIM Ranchi, and IIM Tiruchirappalli — have launched a Joint Admission Process (JAP) for MBA admissions 2026. Coordinated by IIM Raipur this year, the new IIM JAP 2026 admission process will allow aspirants to apply to all four IIMs through a single process. Also read more about IIM CAP 2026 and IIM SAP 2026 process. 

IITs offer high RoI MBA programmes with moderate fee and high placements. Top IITs including IIT Delhi, Bombay, Madras, Kharagpur, Kanpur, Roorkee offer MBA programs. IITs will open their application form after release of CAT exam result in the first week of January 2026. 

List of IITs with Fees, Salary, Admission 2026 Dates 

Read complete details of IIT MBA Admission Process

MBA Admission 2026 in India: Not only the IIMs, there are highly ranked and internationally accredited MBA/ PGDM colleges among the MBA colleges accepting CAT/XAT score. Some of the prominent MBA colleges excluding IIMs which will accept CAT/XAT score percentile 90 & above for MBA admission are given in table below. Direct links to MBA application forms 2026 for these colleges are given below.

List of Top MBA Colleges with Fees, Salary, Admission 2026 Dates

IFT MBA Admission 2026: IIFT International Business (IB) MBA Program is offered at Delhi, Kolkata, Kakinada and GIFT City campuses. IIFT Business Analytics (BA) program is offered at Delhi campus only. IIFT Delhi average package is Rs 27.30 Lakhs. IIFT MBA Admission 2026 is open. IIFT MBA Admission 2026 last date to apply 2025 is December 12, 2025. 

Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), XIM University, accepts CAT, XAT, GMAT score and will also conduct its own admission test XGMT. XIMB MBA admission 2026 last date is Dec 12, 2025. Apply Now.

FORE School of Management New Delhi recorded strong placements 2025 with Average Salary of Rs. 16.80 LPA. FORE offers four MBA equivalent PGDM Program: PGDM General, PGDM International Business, PGDM Financial Management, and PGDM Big Data Analytics. FORE New Delhi MBA Admission 2026 is open. Apply Now.

Goa Institute of Management (GIM) Goa, ranked #24 in India by both MBAUniverse.com and Business Today rankings, offers general and specialized MBA equivalent PGDM programs. GIM Goa is located in a 50 acres campus in Sahyadri hills in Goa. GIM Goa average salary 2025 was Rs 15.13 LPA. GIM Goa MBA Admission 2026 is open. Apply now.

TAPMI Manipal, a top ranked B-school, offers MBA General, MBA in Marketing, MBA in Banking, MBA in International Business, MBA in HR and other MBA programs. TAPMI MBA Admission 2026 is open for all MBA programs. Apply Now.

Other best MBA Colleges where are admissions 2026 is open include MICA, Great Lakes, IMT Ghaziabad, SDA Bacconi among others. The list of best MBA colleges with their fees, placements, and admission status is given below. 

SDA Bocconi Asia Center is the pan-Asian hub of SDA Bocconi School of Management, Italy. SDA Bocconi Asia Center is offering MBA equivalent International Master in Business (IMB) program in Mumbai since 2012. The program offers a unique opportunity to study for 4 months in Bocconi Italy campus. Apply for SDA Bocconi Admission 2026.

Management Development Institute Murshidabad (MDIM) is carries forward the legacy of sister institute MDI Gurgaon. It offers world-class infrastructure, exceptional faculty, and impactful academic engagements. MDI Murshidabad PGDM Admission 2026 is open. Apply now. 

BIMTECH Greater Noida is consistently ranked amongst the leading B-schools in the country and offers prestigious full-time MBA-equivalent PGDM programs. BIMTECH Placements average salary is 11.00 lakhs per annum. BIMTECH Admission 2026 process for PGDM programs is open. BIMTECH accepts CAT, XAT, CMAT exam scores.

LM Thapar School of Management (LMTSM) is ranked by NIRF in Top 50 B-schools in India, and has also earned AACSB Accreditation. LM Thapar MBA admission is open and last date to apply is December 15, 2025. Apply Now.

Check list of leading MBA Colleges where admissions 2026 are open or opening soon 

Check list of leading MBA Colleges where admissions 2026 are open or opening soon 

As you have read above, MBA Entrance Exams scores are mandatory for Admissions. MBA Admission 2026 Entrance Exam details are given below. Check list of CAT, XAT, CMAT accepting colleges. 

MBA Admission in CAT Colleges: Top MBA Colleges in India Accepting CAT 2025 Score include 21 IIMs, FMS Delhi, SPJIMR Mumbai, MDI Gurgaon, IIFT New Delhi and 200+ other MBA colleges. Read details of 100+ Top MBA Colleges Accepting CAT Exam Scores with eligibility, Cut off, fees, placements, admission process

MBA Admission in XAT Colleges: Xavier Aptitude Test XAT 2026 accepting MBA colleges for admission 2025 are 250 and have increased from earlier 160. Check List of Top MBA colleges accepting XAT Score for different percentile range. Some prominent MBA colleges accepting XAT 2026 score are XLRI, XIMB, MICA, IMI, IMT among others. Read details of 100+ Top MBA Colleges Accepting XAT Exam Scores with their eligibility, Cut off, fees, admission process

MBA Admission in CMAT Colleges: Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) is a government organized computer based national level MBA entrance examination for entry into 1,000 AICTE approved management programmes (MBA/PGDM) all over India. A List of Top 10 CMAT Accepting colleges for admission 2025 is as below. Note they also accept CAT and other exams. 

MBA Admission in MAH MBA CET Colleges: MAH CET Exam 2025 was held on April 1, 2, 3, 2025. Conducted by Maharashtra State Government’s CET Cell of Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), MAH MBA/MMS CET 2025 is the MBA entrance exam for admission in JBIMS, SIMSREE, PUMBA and 300+ MBA colleges in Mumbai, Pune and other cities. Check top MBA colleges accepting MAH MBA CET exam scores. 

You can also select your MBA College based of your preferred city. Latest information on MBA Admission 2026 Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and other cities is available on the links below.  

Admission in Government MBA colleges is offered at low fees with good placements. Below is shared the list of Government MBA colleges with exam accepted, Fee structure, and admission status:
Admission in Government Colleges 

In addition to above list, almost all government universities offer MBA program. If you are looking for admission in low fees colleges, you can consider them. 

MBA specialization courses in various domains and functions like Finance, Marketing, Business Analytics, Human Resource Management, International Business, Banking & Finance, Insurance, Healthcare, Operations are offered by MBA and PGDM Colleges to cater to the industry demand. You need to choose which MBA specialization is best for your career goal. Check details below:

MBA Admission by Specialization

Read details of MBA Specializations offered by top MBA colleges, their admission process, fees, career prospects and more

MBA Admission 2026 without entrance exams are also available in some MBA colleges in India. These colleges hold their own exam or give admission based on profile of a candidate. Read details of Colleges offering Direct MBA Admission without Entrance Exam.

With so many MBA colleges available for admission, you may be confused on how to select the right MBA college for admission 2026? You can evaluate MBA colleges systematically based on following parameters: 

• Exam Accepted & Cut-offs: Check if the college accepts your entrance exam score (CAT, XAT, NMAT, etc.) and whether your score meets its cut-off. Admission chances depend directly on matching or exceeding these benchmarks.

• Budget & Fees: Calculate the total program cost, including tuition, hostel, and living expenses. Shortlist only those within your financial capacity.

• Placements: Review average salary, highest offers, and recruiter diversity over the past 3–5 years. Strong industry links signal better placement prospects.

• Ranking & Accreditation: Check rankings (NIRF, credible private lists) and accreditations like AACSB, EQUIS, AMBA, or NBA for quality assurance.

• Faculty: Research faculty qualifications, industry experience, and publications. A blend of academics and practitioners enriches learning.

• Location: Decide between top cities for industry exposure or top-ranked colleges regardless of location. Proximity to corporate hubs can benefit internships and placements.

• Alumni Network: A strong alumni network can provide mentorship, career opportunities, and business connections long after graduation. Review alumni achievements and engagement for brand credibility.

Use this guide on How to Choose Your MBA College.

Please note that MBA admissions 2025 for top B-schools were closed by August 2025. MBA admission 2025 last date is over for all good MBA colleges. Hence, MBAUniverse.com recommends that candidates should focus to applying for MBA admission 2026 for colleges listed above.

In summary, MBA Admissions 2026 process is currently open at many of India’s leading B-schools, including XLRI Jamshedpur, SPJIMR Mumbai, MDI Gurgaon, FMS Delhi, IMI New Delhi, GIM Goa, FORE School Delhi, TAPMI Manipal among others. Above MBAUniverse.com Guide provides a complete, up-to-date overview of MBA Admissions 2026, covering application deadlines, expected cut-offs, entrance exams accepted, placements and fees for all top 100 B-schools in India.