Come February, students who wish to study Down Under can fulfil their dreams at a city-based institute and get a degree from an Australian university.

India Australia Institute of Management (IAIM) will be introducing courses in accounting, business management and hotel management. The syllabus will follow an international curriculum. At the end, students will receive a degree from an Australian university.

The institute is a brainchild of accountancy expert Sujoy Maitra and academician Robin Jaggessar from Australia. Classes for the first batch of students will start in February 2007. The admission procedure has started from December 1.

“When I moved to Australia as a student, I had to face a lot of hardship. I had to clean dishes to support myself. Parents often incur astronomical debts to send their children to study abroad. Students, too, struggle there. Therefore, to help the students, we both thought of setting up this institute. Students will get the same degree by investing a smaller amount,” said Sujoy.

The institute will offer diploma, advanced diploma, bachelor and postgraduate courses. “The course fee will vary from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5.5 lakh. The same course in Australia would cost anything between Rs 20 lakh and 25 lakh, because of the accommodation and other expenses,” added Sujoy.

Internship will be organised in both countries. Students will be helped in getting jobs in Australia, said Robin. “There is a demand for people in management and accountancy jobs there. It is quite easy to get a green card.”

The institute has tied up with universities like Institute of Technology, Australia, Griffith University and Central Queensland University. Robin’s university Intech is also a partner.

In India, IAIM has tied up with BBI Consultants, which runs Aurobindo Bose Institute of Science, Technology and Management. The institute’s Salt Lake campus will be used by IAIM for classes.

“We are trying to acquire 500 acres in and around Calcutta for our own campus. In the next five years, we are planning to invest Rs 100 crore in Calcutta and will try for a deemed university status,” signed off Sujoy.