Is an MBA Worth It? Costs, Outcomes and Alternatives

Start with the fee. The IIMs' stated flagship fees run from ₹17.9 lakh (IIM Rohtak) to ₹27.5 lakh (IIM Ahmedabad), while FMS Delhi states ₹2.6 lakh for its MBA. Some of these figures include hostel and others do not, so read the note on each institute's fee document before comparing.

Then add the cost most people forget: two years without a salary. If you are working, the income you give up can be as large as the fee itself. Add hostel and living costs where the fee excludes them, and interest if you borrow.

The fairest single number is the median salary in the institute's own final placement report: half the placed batch earned more, half less. Set it beside the fee, as below, and the spread between institutes becomes obvious.

• Institutes do not define salary the same way: some report a median 'maximum earning potential', others a median CTC, and some figures come from NIRF data covering all two-year programmes together.
• A median describes a past batch. Your outcome depends on your specialisation, experience, performance and the job market in your year.

• You can name the roles you want afterwards — product, consulting, finance, sales leadership, operations — and they usually hire from MBA campuses.
• You are switching industry or function and need a structured way in, with internships and campus recruitment.
• The programme you can get into has a published placement report whose median you would be content with.
• You can fund the fee and the lost income without debt that would force you into a job you do not want.

• Your main reason is a higher salary, with no view of the work you want; the degree opens doors, it does not choose them.
• The only offer you hold is from a programme that cannot show an official placement report, or whose median is close to what you already earn.
• You would borrow heavily for a programme whose outcomes are modest. Compare the loan repayment with the realistic median, not the highest package.
• You already have a clear path to promotion in your current field, where an MBA adds little.

• Write down the total cost: stated fee, hostel and living costs, and two years of your current income.
• Find the institute's latest final placement report on its own website and note the median, the year and how many were placed out of those who sought placement.
• Check whether your target specialisation and background place well there; ask current students or alumni.
• Compare two or three realistic offers on the same basis rather than one dream college against nothing.