What is the difference between MBA and PGDM?

MBA stands for Master of Business Administration. On the other hand PGDM stands for Post Graduate Diploma in Management and it is a diploma program. As per the norms of the UGC, colleges affiliated to a university can offer MBA degrees. The private schools which are not affiliated to any university can offer the Post Graduate Diploma in Management programs. Before you make any decision you should know MBA program is a lot cheaper than PGDM program. MBA focuses on theoretical knowledge of management concepts. Theoretical knowledge is useful where you want to go for research. MBA degree is more exam oriented and theoretical in nature. When we will talk about PGDM, it gives you industry exposure. It will drill you with intensive training and give exposure to real life business situations and building soft skills. It prepares you for the industry ready. It is more practical in nature. Hence, if you are looking for a career in the challenging field of management, you should go for PGDM.

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Talking in Indian context, there is no difference when it comes to how industry treats MBA and PGDM graduates. If you see 9 out of 10 B-schools in India offer PGDM / PGP and not MBA. This is the testimony to the fact that that there is no difference between the two in India. Career in both is same and to be very true career growth is dependent upon the individual performance and not on the name of PGDM and MBA. The main reason why postgraduate courses are named as PGDM is because when an Institute is an autonomous body (not affiliated to any University) and conducts management courses, then such Institutes cannot offer MBA degree. Even IIMs, XLRI's doesn't offer MBA degrees; they only give PGP Diploma. 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

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MBA refers to Master of Business Administration. It is a degree that is awarded on completion of a two to three-year management programme. It is granted by a university or an institution that is affiliated with the university. On the other hand, PGDM. stands for a Post Graduate Diploma in Management. It is a Diploma course and the degree is granted by an autonomous institute. Autonomous institutions are colleges which are on their own with no affiliation to a University. Examples are IIMs and XLRI. Generally, MBA concentrates more on theoretical perspectives of management. PGDM centers more on building soft skills. Teaching in MBA is exam-oriented while PGDM is industry oriented. The time taken in the course is also different, PGDM is about only two years while MBA takes three years. These are the key differences between MBA and PGDM. Hope this helps.

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Hi, Main differences between an MBA program and a PGDM program are their duration, accreditation and fee structure, though both the degrees can give good placement opportunities if completed successfully. MBA, I.e. Masters in business administration- The colleges that are affiliated to a university only can offer MBA degree for business courses. Also, the MBA courses provided by such universities have a 2 year degree. MBA courses are accredited by the university to which the college which is providing the course, is affiliated. An MBA is more affordable program and specifically focuses to develop the business and technical knowledge of a student as far as I know. PGDM, I.e. Post graduate diploma in management- these programs are a bit costly and could cost you from 6 to 20 lakhs. These courses focus on preparing the students for real life situations so they can come up with feasible solutions. So basically, accreditation, fees, program's aim, and duration are the core differences. Hope it helps!

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PGDM and MBA both are equivalent courses in the field of management whereas PGDM is a diploma and MBA is a degree. If you want to pursue your education up to PhD level. You must be a post-graduate degree holder. After PGDM you can’t access PhD without having a Post-graduate degree. Another fact is that MBA courses are affiliated with universities where courses get re-framed after a long period around 5 to 6 years. Whereas PGDM courses get upgraded with the industrial environment. So you will get most practical knowledge in PGDM course as MBA is more of theoretical course.

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There is not much difference between MBA and PGDM. These are the courses that are pretty much the same. While MBA is a postgraduate degree, PGDM is a postgraduate Diploma. Both are management courses. Only universities can offer a degree. Private colleges that are not affiliated to any of the universities or are not a university themselves cannot offer a degree and so they offer PGDM.

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Actually PGDM is offered by Autonomous and Deemed Institution and MBA is offered by University Run Colleges. PGDM is much more costly. Hey, actually Department of Management Sciences, PUMBA is a very Prestigious Institution for MBA especially in Pune and Maharashtra. The main reason behind this is it's ROI, best campus. Likewise, the type of people who take admission range the cutoff between 98 to 99.60 percentiles. For general category, cutoff is always high and for OBC it is slightly on the lighter side by 3 percentile. For SC ST and NT category, it is variable from 58 percentile to 86 percentile. For Physical Disable candidates it is between 56 to 60 percentiles. Hence, PUMBA stands out to be the toughest yet the most trusted option for MBA aspirants. Fees for it's entire course of 22 months is 1.4 k and for OBC, it is 75k, for SC ST NT, it is 20k. Best Infrastructure and Curriculum is updated. Hence, PUMBA is probably the most trusted and reliable institute for Management Studies. Thanks and Cheers.

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Most of the people, after gaining one or two year experience in management field, think of pursuing an MBA or a PGDM course, so as to further polish their credentials and job prospects. It is very much important for an individual to understand how both of them differ from each other and what their relevance is. Pursuing both these courses helps one in their career growth, in getting a better position and obtaining a bigger salary. Although, there are similarities between the curriculum of both, differences exist as well. 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 program 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.

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MBA is a professional course where you would get a degree by a university, PGDM is a post-graduation program where the students will be getting degree by their respective college instead of University degree. The curriculum for MBA and PGDM are almost same with PGDM having an advantage of having autonomous and as it is under college so the extra courses and extra new syllabus college can add into the program of PGDM students at any time. If you want to pursue PhD it is better to opt for MBA or MMS instead of PGDM, as for most of PhD programs the student should have a Master’s degree. So it gets difficult for PGDM students who want to pursue PhD. To conclude, it is always better to go for a Master’s degree instead of a post graduate program as the students under Master’s program would be getting degree from respective universities instead of a degree from college.

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MBA stands for Masters in Business Administration and PGDM stands for Post Graduate Diploma in Management. Well, there is just difference in names as per All India University association and other AICTE PGDM too will be given equal value as of MBA. The student completing the PGDM programme will be equal to MBA as both are of 2-year duration. Many top B-Schools including IIM, XLRI, XIMB, SPJAIN, etc. are offering only PGDM for 2-years and not MBA so there is no difference between these two terms in case of employment and other skills related tasks.The B-Schools that are providing this course with affiliated to higher education government bodies AICTE, UGC, etc. which are governing them. Student do not worry if you are thinking of difference, there is no problem. You will be given a certificate after the course completion that your degree is equivalent to MBA. All the best!

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