If you want to climb up the corporate ladder, get recognition, and earn more, an MBA can be a game-changer.
Besides the valuable skills and experiences, MBA is a must-have for many management or leadership positions because it showcases your expertise and qualifications.
But not all MBAs are made the same.
Let’s see what getting an MBA from a Lower Ranked B-school is like.
To define a Lower Ranked B-school, we will consider the following factors:
- Accreditation by recognised bodies like the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) or the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) should be the primary consideration.Aspirants often overlook this criterion when overwhelmed by affordable packages, placement insights and course specialisation.
- Ranking publications like the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) by the Indian Ministry of Education and other independent rankings like Business Today, Outlook, or QS World University Rankings. A lower ranked business school is not placed in most top 100 lists.
- Placement and Employment: Only around 60% or fewer students are placed within 6 months of graduation. Even the salary packages would be around INR 6 lakhs per annum, below average for an MBA holder.
- Infrastructure and faculties: Only basic facilities would be available, but no specialised research labs or modern amenities. And only 30%(approx) of faculty members would hold PhD degrees, while the rest would have master’s degrees.
- Student to Faculty ratio is very high. It is mostly around 40:1. This indicates that the learning experiences for students are not so personalised, and opportunities for student teacher interaction are also low.
Considering these criteria as our basis for judgement, let’s match them with our requirements:
- Cost-Effectiveness: Lower ranked B-schools also tend to have budget-friendly tuition fees compared to top B-schools. It is a plus for students who want quality education without heavy student loan debt.
- Accessible Admission: These B-schools have less competitive admission criteria than top-tier institutions, making it easier for students with satisfactory academic credits to get admission.
- Specialized Programs: Many B-schools excel in specific disciplines or niche fields. If a student’s academic or career interests align with the school’s strengths, they may find unique and specialised programs that are not even available at higher-ranked institutions.
- Personalized Attention: Lower ranked B-schools often have lower class strength. Even with a high student to faculty ratio, students receive more individualised attention(not to be confused with learning experience) from professors.
How to decide?
Compare the defining criteria of B-schools against your needs.
If your requirements suit your long term plans better than the facilities offered by the school, then you should go for a lower ranked B-school.
Check out this list of The Best Lower Ranked B-schools in India. (link to the middle of the funnel content)
If you do not have any limitation of cost, credit or specialisation, then a lower ranked B-school is not the best option for you.
Check out this list of the Top B-schools in India. (link to the middle of the funnel content)
There are some cons to lower ranked B-schools as well.
Even though Lower-tier B-schools update their curriculum every three years, most of their programs focus on theory and lack skill-based courses or industry exposure.
According to the Economic Times, students from top B-schools have experienced a notable 6.4% increase in annual compensation, while those from lower-tiered B-schools have seen a modest growth of only 2-3%.