IIM Kozhikode and IIM Sambalpur have this year launched undergraduate courses while IIM Bangalore will offer two such programmes from 2026-27, marking a trend of diversification that, some academics fear, will turn the B-schools into general universities and dilute their standards.
Pushed by the National Education Policy (NEP) and the Union government, the elite management institutions are starting undergraduate courses. Some B-schools have limited their UG courses to management studies, but several others like IIM Bangalore and IIM Sambalpur have prepared multi-disciplinary programmes as prescribed by the NEP.
Four former and serving IIM faculty members said the IIM brand would slowly erode if the institutions diversified into domains beyond the area of their competency.
The IIMs were started in the 1960s to produce professional managers to support the economic development of the nation. For decades, they mainly focused on postgraduate-level courses like the two-year Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM), which is equivalent to an MBA, and Fellow, equivalent to a PhD. After being granted degree-awarding powers through the IIM Act in 2017, these IIMs changed the names of the courses to MBA and PhD, respectively. They also provide short-term courses to executives.
Only IIM Indore had started a five-year Integrated Programme in Management (IPM) combining the UG and PG curricula in 2011. Later, the IIMs in Rohtak, Ranchi, Amritsar, Bodhgaya and Jammu introduced IPM courses.
However, since the launch of the NEP, the Centre has been encouraging all institutions to start multi-disciplinary courses and augment internal resources mainly from tuition fees, which will reduce the financial burden on the government.
According to the website of IIM Bangalore, the institute will from next year offer BSc (Hons) in economics with minors in data science and business studies, and BSc (Hons) in data science with minors in economics and business studies.
IIM Sambalpur this year started BS (Bachelor of Science) in management and public policy and BS in data science and artificial intelligence. IIM Kozhikode is offering Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) while IIM Sirmaur launched the course last year.
IIM Bangalore has said that its new BSc courses will combine the analytical rigour of economics and data science with applied learning in business studies. The interdisciplinary design prepares students for the complexities of the modern data-centric environment, it said. Applicants are required to take the IIMB Undergraduate Admissions Test.
The annual programme fee is ₹8.5 lakh for the first two years and will be increased in the third year after approval by the IIM's board. This includes tuition fee, examination fee and hostel accommodation excluding mess charges.
A former IIM faculty member said the new interdisciplinary courses would face several constraints related to market acceptability, resources and infrastructure. In addition, the IIMs would begin to function like general universities and lose their brand value, he said.
"The IIMs never came under the regulations of the University Grants Commission (UGC) because they focused on niche courses. They created their own brand. Now by starting BSc and BA programmes, they may gradually come under the UGC's regulations. It means they will become general universities," the former faculty member said.
He said the government wanted the IIMs to start courses to "cash in on their brand" and increase their resource generation.
"The IIMs do not have adequate faculty to teach the new subjects that are being clubbed with management. They will mainly depend on outside experts. The regular faculty members will lose interest in the new programmes and may take a few classes only. The placement of the graduates from the bachelor's courses will be another challenge since the employers are not sure about the quality of these programmes. The limited infrastructure is another constraint," he said.
A faculty member at IIM Bangalore said the fee for the bachelor's courses was very high and only children from rich families would be able to take admission.
Prof. Janat Shah, former director of IIM Udaipur, said the IIMs were expected to discuss all aspects of the new courses in their different forums, including the board of governors (BoG).
"The issue of quality is usually addressed when a new course is planned. The BoG approves courses only after being convinced that they would be able to maintain reasonably good standards. If some institutions have started courses to enhance their income, they will be exposed," Shah said.