Mumbai: Starting this academic year, engineering graduates in Maharashtra will be able to complete a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in a single year. Additionally, working professionals will be allowed to pursue engineering and management courses through evening or weekend classes.
The state is rolling out the lateral or direct entry to the second year of MBA for those who have completed Bachelor of Engineering (BE)/Bachelor of Technology or four-year Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) and Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) programmes. This scheme, introduced in January this year by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), is in line with the National Education Policy (NEP), which provides for a year-long master's programme for those who spend four-years in their undergraduate (UG) course.
Engineering graduates usually form the largest cohort of MBA students in B-schools across the country. Of the three qualifying programmes for lateral admission to the management course, BE/BTech is the only one with four-year duration. The NEP-aligned four-year BMS and BBA courses were introduced in the state's colleges only last year, with the first batch slated to graduate in 2027.
The state had already introduced the direct second year admission for another professional course - Master of Computer Applications (MCA) - last year. Engineering graduates from Computer Science and Information Technology streams as well as those completing four years of Bachelor of Computer Application (BCA) are eligible for lateral entry in MCA. There's already a provision for lateral entry in BE second year for those with engineering diplomas.
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The state will also provide an opportunity for working professionals to obtain four degrees - BE/BTech, ME/MTech, MBA and MCA - without leaving their jobs. Under this programme, the professionals will be able to enrol themselves in one these programmes at an institute which is within a 50km radius of their workplace. The candidates need to have a minimum of one year full-time or regular work experience to be eligible.
AICTE had introduced this concept last year only, with select institutes allowed to offer courses for working professionals to enhance their qualification. In 2024-25, it has opened it for all institutions. The institutes can offer a maximum of three courses for working professionals and they will be allotted an extra division (15-60 supernumerary seats) for them.
The course duration for these programmes will be decided by the affiliating university or the autonomous institute. The timings classes normally will be in the evening hours or any flexible convenient timings in alignment with timings of the students' organisations.
The state-wide centralised admission process (CAP) for both the direct second year admission to MBA as well as for working professionals in colleges across the state will be carried out centrally by the state Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell. The application process for candidates will begin within a week, said an official from the Cell.
However, there's no clarity on how many seats will be made available to those seeking lateral entry to MBA. In case of MCA, only the seats left unfilled in the regular first year admissions as well as those vacated by the students failing the first year are offered to the lateral candidates. On the other hand, supernumerary seats to the tune of 10% of intake capacity are added to BE for direct diploma entrants.
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