From bachelor in business administration (BBA) to bachelor in computer application (BCA) and hospitality, travel and tourism management to insurance and risk management, the “industry-specific” career courses are the flavour of the season.

With plenty of jobs on offer for those who have not taken the tried and tested path of engineering, medicine and general stream graduation, GeNext is eager to log on to industry specific courses, claim academicians.

“Over the past five years, the demand for industry-specific courses has increased several times. From a batch of 85 students in 2001, the number in our institute has gone up to 700,” says Manoj Joshi, trustee and director of George Group of Colleges, among the first institutions to introduce industry-specific courses under West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT).

According to academicians, industry-specific courses are studied by students eager to employed early in life. With growing competition, industries, too, prefer trained students.

“These days students are more interested in starting their career early. Therefore, students are going for professional courses like business administration and hotel management instead of the regular bachelor’s degrees in physics, history or chemistry,” says Atashi Gupta, psychologist at Teenline, a counselling centre.

Experts feel that not only mediocre students, but toppers, too, are opting for professional courses.

“We have students with a score of 800 in HS exams. A stringent common entrance test allows us to maintain high standards,” says Gouri Ghosh, assistant registrar, WBUT.

Courses like BBA and Media Sciences are the most popular, but there is also growing demand for courses like hospital management, hospitality management, travel and tourism, sports management and supply chain management.

According to WBUT officials, with mall-eria gripping the city, supply chain management is a major draw for students. “Demand for such courses will only increase,” says Joshi.