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MBA: Stands for Master in Business Administration.
PGDM: Stands for Post Graduate Diploma in Management.
Why are they pursued?
MBA: A Masters in Business Administration (MBA) is a degree course offered by the colleges affiliated to the universities. So, only universities can offer MBA programmes.
PGDM: A Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) is a diploma course offered by the institutes that are recognised by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and which are autonomous and not affiliated to any university. However, accreditation by Association of Indian Universities (AIU) makes an institute's PGDM course equivalent to an MBA.
High/low fees
Fee is high in case of PGDM as compared to MBA. MBA institutes charge less fee as it is almost similar to university standard.
Are MBA and PGDM equal?
It is not mandatory that a PGDM is equal to MBA because then the college offering the PGDM course must have accreditation from AIU (The Association of Indian Universities).
Difference between the curriculum:
Although there are similarities between the curriculum of both, differences exist as well. A student pursuing MBA will be studying more of the theoretical aspects of management. An MBA institute will be following a fixed curriculum as it will be based on the university guidelines.
A student pursuing a PGDM course will be gaining knowledge regarding building soft skills and the programme is more industry-oriented. An autonomous institute does not have to follow university standards, so it is free to change its curriculum according to industry standards and change in the business environment. The course will prepare you for a senior level position in a company.