Indian Or Foreign MBA? Which Is More Valuable?

As more and more Indians go abroad for MBA programs, the question arises as to which one is more valuable, an Indian or a foreign degree. Coupled to this would be another related query. What is the value of a foreign MBA degree in India?

The first factor an MBA aspirant should think about would be his or her aim in acquiring the degree–for earning more money, career change or other reasons.

Studying abroad gives you an international exposure and perspective. It exposes the student to diverse cultures, technologies and innovations in business systems.

In India too, top Business Schools do not lag behind in providing a top notch education with the added advantage of an Indian perspective. The fees and other expenses would be much lower in the country.

On the flip side, for those intending to work abroad, an international degree would be a better bet. Recruiters in other countries may not be familiar with Indian business schools and would be more comfortable in assessing students from well known international schools.

But then, what happens if for some reason, after completing your degree abroad, you are unable to find placement or the right type of job? Top business school placement statistics claim that 30% of students managed a total career change, that is a new role, new industry and new country. The remaining 70% may have to fend for themselves.

Add to this the pressure of repaying your student loan and any other financial commitment you had made for your study and stay abroad. One option would be to find a job in that country and stick on. Though you may be able to draw a salary that looks good in Rupee terms, considering the expenses, it may not be worthwhile.

The next option would be to return home to try and land a job on the strength of your foreign MBA. This may not be that easy.

For one, you would be competing with graduates from top institutes in India. Secondly, unless you graduated from one of the well known schools like Harvard, Wharton, MIT Sloan or London School of Business, recruiters would not have an idea about the value of the program.

This is because most of the recruitment gets done during placements at the various Indian Institute of Management (IIMs). Even HR professionals working for top Indian firms would be hard put to name  all the top 10 B-schools in the world.

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Thus, it is incumbent on the candidate to package and present the value of the MBA in a manner that creates such awareness.

Next comes the salary part. Leave out the IIM graduates with no pre-MBA work experience and look at the average Rs 28 lakh salary drawn by a PGPX graduate from IIMA  and a Rs 18 lakh drawn by IIM I graduates with about 5-6 years work experience.

Compared to salaries in the US, UK or other developed countries this would seem to be low. However, in terms of return of investment (RoI), it would be good, considering that India is far less expensive to stay and work.  This figure could be your benchmark during salary negotiations with a prospective employer.

You could also possibly leverage any specific skills advantages gained from international exposure to pitch for a higher salary package. (Image Courtesy : www.publicdomainpictures.net)