Which is better- PGDM Degree or MBA Degree?
Post graduate Diploma in Management or generally known as PGDM is a postgraduate diploma course in the field of management. The duration of the PGDM course is two years. Students with at least 60% marks in graduation are eligible for this course.
Master of Business Administration or widely known as MBA is a two-years postgraduate program. To pursue MBA students must pass with at least 50% marks in graduation degree.
Eligibility Criteria for PGDM and MBA degree:
PGDM: For taking admission in PGDM diploma course, candidates must fulfil the minimal eligibility criteria.
-
Candidates should have a Bachelor's degree in any stream.
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A minimum of 60% or 6.5 CGPA on the scale of 10 is required.
MBA: Students seeking admission in MBA degree must meet certain criteria.
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Students must have a Bachelor's degree in any discipline.
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A minimum of 50% marks is required in graduation degree.
These are the basic eligibility criteria for pursuing PGDM and MBA degree courses.
Admission Process: In order to take admission in Master of Business Administration or Post Graduate Diploma in Management, candidates have to appear for entrance examination. Some state universities conduct their own entrance exams whereas some institutes accept admission on the basis of national level tests. Below a list of general entrance exams is mentioned:
Top Master of Business Administration (MBA) Entrance Exams:
Sl no |
Name of the Entrance Exam |
Exam Level |
Conducting Body |
Exam Details |
1 |
CAT |
National Level |
Indian Institute of Management Indore |
|
2 |
MAT |
National Level |
All India Management Association |
|
3 |
XAT |
National Level |
XLRI Jamshedpur |
|
4 |
CMAT |
National Level |
National Testing Agency |
|
5 |
IIFT |
National Level |
National Testing Agency |
Top PGDM Entrance Exams:
Sl No |
Name of the Entrance Exam |
Exam Level |
Conducting Body |
Exam Details |
1 |
CAT |
National Level |
Indian Institute of Management Indore |
|
2 |
MAT |
National Level |
All India Management Association |
|
3 |
CMAT |
National Level |
National Testing Agency |
|
4 |
XAT |
National Level |
XLRI Jamshedpur |
|
5 |
OJEE MBA |
State Level |
Odisha Joint Entrance |
Top Colleges Offering PGDM and MBA: Here institutions offering PGDM and the institutions offering MBA courses are listed down with the total course fees and entrance exams:
Institutions that offer Postgraduate Diploma in Management:
Sl No |
Name of the Institution |
State |
Ownership |
Entrance Exam |
Course Fees |
1 |
National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management, Hyderabad |
Telangana |
Public/ Government |
CAT |
INR 4,71,000 (approx.) |
2 |
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International School of Textile Management, Coimbatore |
Tamil Nadu |
Public/ Government |
CAT/ XAT/ MAT/ TANCET |
INR 1,94,700 (approx.) |
3 |
Madhya Pradesh |
Public/ Government |
CAT/ XAT |
INR 6,24,000 (approx.) |
|
4 |
Uttar Pradesh |
Private |
CAT/XAT/GMAT |
INR 17,35,000 (approx.) |
|
5 |
Karnataka |
Private |
INR 6,00,000 (approx.) |
Top institutions that offer Master of Business Administration :
Sl No |
Name of the Institution |
State |
Ownership |
Entrance Exam |
Course Fees |
1 |
Gujarat |
Public/ Government |
GMAT |
INR 28,00,000 (approx.) |
|
2 |
Karnataka |
Public/ Government |
CAT /GMAT |
INR 23,00,000 (approx.) |
|
3 |
West Bengal |
Public/ Government |
GMAT |
INR 27,00,000 (approx.) |
|
4 |
Karnataka |
Private |
CAT/ CMAT/ XAT/ MAT/ ATMA/ GMAT |
INR 7,60,000 (approx.) |
|
5 |
Tamil Nadu |
Private |
CAT/ CMAT/ XAT/ MAT/ GMAT |
INR 6,97,000 (approx.) |
Specializations: Candidates can opt for full-time MBA or distance MBA. In both cases, candidates have various options of selecting MBA specialization. For PGDM course also students can select their preferable specialization. Below is a list of top specializations available in MBA and PGDM:
Specialization in MBA |
Specialization in PGDM |
Economics & Social Sciences |
|
Business Communication |
|
Business Economics |
Difference between PGDM and MBA:
After completion of graduation, one can go for higher studies. There are several options available for post graduation in which PGDM and MBA are notable. Though both have the same management entrance exams, there are few differences between MBA and PGDM courses. Following some differences between these two courses has mentioned:
Topic |
MBA |
PGDM |
Full-form |
Master of Business Administration. |
Postgraduate Diploma in management |
Body of Accreditation |
MBA courses are accredited by the colleges which are affiliated to university. |
PGDM courses are approved by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). |
Course Duration |
The duration of the MBA course is 2 years. |
PGDM course is 1 to 2.5 year long. |
Focus |
MBA course focuses on building theoretical concepts, business and technical knowledge of students. |
PGDM courses focus on practical and real-life situations and make students ready for an industry-oriented environment. |
Fee Structure |
The course fees of MBA is affordable than PGDM programme. |
PGDM course is expensive as compared to MBA |
PGDM vs MBA: Which is better?
Post Graduate Diploma in Management or PGDM is a diploma study course at postgraduate level. Whereas Master in Business Administration or MBA is a degree course. Therefore, MBA candidates get more weightage than PGDM candidates. PGDM aims to provide practical and industry-oriented knowledge to the candidate which helps to gain wide exposure and a hand-on approach to the management world. On the other side, an MBA degree also comes with its advantages. MBA programmes help the candidate to uplift their career paths, expansion in a job opportunity, enhancement in core values and so on. Hence it may seem to be equivalent, but one should know the differences between PGDM and MBA and choose their career path accordingly.
Dear aspirant,
Hope you are doing well. As per your query both the courses are extremely good and hold their own values. MBA is a degree course that can only be offered by the colleges affiliated to universities, whereas PGDM or Post Graduate Diploma in Management is a diploma course offered by autonomous institutes. Both MBA and PGDM are viewed as equivalent during recruitment. Also, while PGDM courses might be industry-oriented and preferred by the corporates, they might have to face roadblocks while applying to pursue higher education or jobs overseas. In MBA course focuses on developing the business and technical knowledge of a student student develops theoretical concepts that are essential in the business world. It totally depends on what you want to pursue in future and what type of jobs you want to get into. Please click on the link below for more information and updates. Hope you find this helpful. Thank you.
https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/difference-between-pgdm-and-mba
Hello there. Hope you are doing good. I would like to tell you that MBA or Masters in Business Administration is a degree course which can only be offered by the colleges affiliated to a university whereas PGDM is a diploma course that can be offered by autonomous institutions as well.
For example, FMS (Faculty of Management Studies) college offers MBA degree to the students affiliated to University of Delhi. While institutions such as SP Jain Institute of Management Studies and Research or MDI offers PGDM course to the students. MBA is UGC approved and PGDM is AICTE approved so both are well recognized by the corporate world. It would be difficult to say which is better among the two as industry acceptance is equal for both of them. PGDM has a slight edge over MBA due to the fact that PGDM offering institutions can improvise their curriculum based on the latest trends going on in the market and it has a more flexible mode of study. Other than that there is no major difference among the two.
I hope you found this answer helpful. Good luck for your future.