IGNOU MBA Course

Last Updated on August 10, 2023 by Vishnu Nambiar

Have you completed your Bachelor’s Degree? Are you interested in pursuing an MBA program? If yes, this post will be of help to you. Here, we will have an in-depth analysis of the IGNOU MBA course.

IGNOU stands for Indira Gandhi National Open University. It is the lifeline for many students in India. Hundreds of thousands of students across India rely on IGNOU for completing their education (Diploma, Bachelor’s, Master’s, etc).

IGNOU is known to offer MBA courses. It offers both a general MBA and a specialization program. In this post, you will find all the important details that you need to know about the IGNOU MBA course.

Here, I’ve covered details such as – duration, eligibility criteria, syllabus, fees, admission process, scope, and career prospects. Both students and parents may use this guide to find out more details about the academic program.

Before heading to the meat of the matter – the MBA course in IGNOU – let us check out some basic details about this Open University. In the next section, I’ve highlighted facts such as – the importance of IGNOU, the types of courses offered by the University, the flexibility of academic programs, etc.

IGNOU: Types of courses & basic details

As I mentioned before, IGNOU stands for Indira Gandhi National Open University. It was established in the year of 1985. This University was established with the aim of providing affordable and flexible academic programs to students from across India.

Unlike other Universities, IGNOU championed the cause of Open University. It promoted distance learning like no other University did. This is one of the main reasons responsible for the success and popularity of IGNOU.

IGNOU offers academic and training programs belonging to the following academic levels –

• UG.
• PG.
• Doctoral Degree.

If you want to know more about the different course formats, here they are –

• Non-Credit programs.
• Certificate programs.
• Online programs.
• Diploma programs.
• BPP (Preparatory) programs.
• Bachelor’s Degree programs.
• PG Certificate programs.
• PG Diploma programs.
• Master’s Degree programs.
• Advanced Certificate programs.
• Advanced Diploma programs.
• M.Phil. programs.
• Ph.D. programs.

The University offers the above-mentioned programs in different modes such as –

• Distance learning mode.
• Online mode.
• Regular learning mode.

Disciplines covered by IGNOU include – arts, science, commerce, management, engineering, law, humanities, gender studies, education, foreign languages, agriculture, tourism and hospitality, computer and IT, social science, social work, health science, journalism, etc.

The University has ‘departments’ or ‘schools’ to take care of each discipline. For example, management studies are managed by the SOMS (School of Management Studies). Similarly, science education is managed by the SOS (School of Science).

Distance learning will dilute the learning experience, you may wonder. It may not be as effective as the regular classroom experience, you may say. Please don’t worry about these things! IGNOU has got an impressive network of regional centers and study centers.

Regional centers take care of local administration and management of IGNOU schools. For example, consider any state like Gujarat. Gujarat is home to many major cities. IGNOU has made sure that there exist regional centers in cities and districts such as Ahmedabad, Vadodara, etc. These centers will help students collect books, apply for exams, carry out other administrative tasks, etc. Students may also use regional study centers to meet like-minded people and prepare for the exam.

Okay, let us focus our attention on SOMS (School of Management Studies). This is the department responsible for offering management courses at IGNOU.

School of Management Studies: Courses offered

This school offers MBA and PG Diploma programs. Here’s the list of courses offered by SOMS –

• MBA (General).
• MBA (Banking and Finance).
• Diploma in Management.
• Certificate in NGO Management.
• Certificate in Entrepreneurship.
• PG Diploma in Human Resource Management.
• PG Diploma in Financial Management.
• PG Diploma in Operations Management.
• PG Diploma in Marketing Management.
• PG Diploma in Financial Markets Practice.

In this post, we will focus on MBA courses only. In the next section, you will find all the important details that you need to know about MBA programs by IGNOU. The section covers details such as – duration, eligibility, admission process, entrance exam, fees, and syllabus.

IGNOU MBA Courses: Everything you need to know

IGNOU offers two types of MBA programs. They are –

• General MBA.
• Specialization program.

The general program deals with core management subjects. The specialization program covers core management subjects as well as discipline-specific subjects. The discipline that this course deals with is – banking and finance.

Come, let us check out details such as duration, eligibility, and fees.

Duration

The minimum duration of the course is 2.5 years. The maximum duration of the course is 8 years. The academic program consists of four semesters.

Eligibility Criteria

The minimum educational qualification required is – completed any Bachelor’s Degree course (including Chartered Accountancy/Cost Accountancy/Company Secretaryship). The minimum aggregate marks required is – 50% marks for general candidates and 45% marks for reserved category applicants.

Admission Process

In order to select deserving candidates, IGNOU relies on merit based admission process. Under this system, you must score valid marks in the OPENMAT entrance exam in order to secure admission.

OPENMAT is conducted twice each year. It is generally conducted in the months of February and August.

OPENMAT score is valid for a period of two semesters. It means that you may use the OPENMAT score for securing admission into the following two semesters’ admission process.

Age Limit

There’s no age limit associated with this course, as it is a post-graduate course.

Fees

Course fees are 31,500 INR.

How to apply

First of all, make sure that you satisfy the eligibility criteria. The next step is to apply for the OPENMAT exam. Score valid marks in the exam. Once the result is published, you will receive your result card. If your merit marks fall within the cut-off set by the authorities, you are considered eligible/qualified for admission.

Fill up the application form and submit it along with the required documents at the IGNOU regional center.

Syllabus

Here are some of the important subjects present in the curriculum –

• Management functions and behavior.
• Management of human resources.
• Economic and social environment.
• Accounting and finance for managers.
• Management of machines and materials.
• Marketing for managers.
• Information systems for managers.
• Quantitative analysis for managerial applications.
• Managerial economics.
• Strategic management.
• Elective courses.
• Specialization courses.
• Project course.

Career prospects and scope

Management professionals are hired by a wide variety of industries, MNCs, offices, and organizations. Both government and private job opportunities are available in front of them.

Corporate houses, MNCs, NGOs, Educational Institutes, Healthcare setups, Government organizations, Industries, and Finance institutes (banks, private enterprises, etc), etc are known to recruit MBA graduates. Actually, the list of recruiters would go on and on, management professionals are needed by many firms!

Under the above-mentioned work setups, MBA graduates may take up any of the following job posts –

• Associate.
• Assistant Manager.
• HR Manager.
• Operations Manager.
• Analyst.
• Finance and Accounts Manager.
• Banker.
• Trader.
• Sales and Marketing professional.
• Auditing Assistant.
• Executive (Sales, Marketing, Advertising, etc).
• Office Assistant/Executive.
• Research Assistant.

Other than office jobs, entrepreneurship is another opportunity available in front of MBA graduates. If you are an entrepreneur at heart, you may start your own venture or business. Other than that, working as an independent consultant is another excellent option!

Vishnu Nambiar

I am Vishnu Nambiar a career and educational blogger from India. I am also a full time educational consultant having more than 12 years of experience in the educational sector.

I share articles related to courses, colleges, careers, exam tips and more here.