B-schools to Complete New MBA Admissions by August 25, but no Fee hike this year: AICTE

Responding proactively in student interest, regulatory body All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has released the revised academic calendar for B-schools with guidelines for the PGDM/PGCM admission time lines, commencement of classes for new as well as existing students, mode of teaching, revised dates to apply for fee refund among others key instructions. These guidelines are mandatory for more than 500 B-schools including top B-schools like XLRI, SPJIMR and MDI. AICTE’s announcement for above dates puts an end to speculations about new batch commencement dates.   

Superseding its earlier released important guidelines vide notification No. AICTE/MS Office/Special 01 dated May 1, 2020, AICTE has issued new set of guidelines on August 13, 2020 and has instructed all the stand alone PGDM/PGCM institutes to follow timelines as under:   

AICTE Academic Calendar 2020-21: Important dates for New Admissions

• Last Date for Admission to PGDM/PGCM 2020-21 Courses: August 25, 2020
• Session Commencement for New Students: August 10, 2020

Announcement of above dates puts an end to speculations about new batch commencement dates as B-schools were earlier required to open on August 1. Most leading B-schools have started their classes in online mode instead of class room sessions. 

MBA aspirants are advised to finalize their admissions and complete the process before these dates.

Last Date for Seat cancellation: August 17, 2020
AICTE has also revised the last date for Seat cancellation. The application for full fee refund and seat cancellation can be submitted till  August 17 instead of earlier date of July 25, 2020.

Amending the last date for full fee refund due to seat cancellation, AICTE has notified, “Last Date for cancellation of PGDM/PGCM 2020-21 seat with full fee refund subject to deduction of Rs.1000/- only is August 17, 2020”

AICTE had earlier instructed the B-schools that the students should get the due amount of his/her fee refunded within 7 days from the date of submission of the Application at the college. Check here the AICTE rules and guidelines with application format for fee refund

No fee hike for the Academic session 2020-21
AICTE has asked the B-schools not to hike either admission or tuition fee for the academic session 2020-21 for existing as well as new students. AICTE has also asked B-schools to relax fee collection norms.

Issuing the instructions, AICTE has notified “Colleges/institutions should not hike fee for the academic session 2020-21 nor should insist on payment of fees till the ongoing lockdown is lifted and normalcy is restored.”

It remains to be seen how B-schools will confirm seats for candidates who do not pay before dates.

Relief for students to submit graduation marksheets till December 31, 2020
Since many colleges and universities were not able to conduct final year graduation examination nor their result could be declared due to country wide Covid 19 lockdown, AICTE has asked the B-schools not to deny admission to new students due to non-submission of mark sheets and has extended the last date to submit the final year graduation mark-sheet till December 31, 2020.

The guideline issued by AICTE states, “Due to the shutdown of all educational institutions, some universities could not conduct final year examinations of UG courses or could not declare the results. In such cases, the provisional admission of the students may be given and he/she shall produce the proof of successful completion of the graduation on or before December 31, 2020.”

AICTE permits Online Classes to start program
The session commencement for existing as well as newly admitted students in PGDM/PGCM courses should begin with Online Classes to avoid any impact on Covid-19. Accordingly, AICTE has instructed, “The B-schools may start the regular academic session with classes conducted in online mode as per the AICTE academic calendar and later switch to physical class room mode only after the notification is issued by MHRD”

This is a progressive move by regulator and is in line with international practices. Top global B-schools like Harvard Business School are also conducting their classes online.

Relief for Current Batch: Session Commencement from July 15
Due to Covid 19 pandemic, AICTE had postponed the session commencement date for existing students who will be coming to final year from their first year. Providing relief to the 1^st year students whose final exam could not be held before lockdown, AICTE has clarified “If the examination for the 1^st year students for the session 2019-20 could not be conducted before the lockdown, the mode of examination and promotion to higher classes be done as per UGC guidelines issued on April 29, 2020.”

With this announcements, current MBA students can complete their MBA in time to apply for recruitment starting later this year.

Earlier AICTE instructed the institutes not to go for summer internships for the eligible students in other organizations and advised the B-schools to provide projects so that they could complete summer internships from home or it could be done in December 2020.  According to AICTE, “Some students would not be able to pursue their summer internship due to the ongoing lockdown. Hence, they are advised to pursue internships from home. ln case the same is not feasible, this requirement may be fulfilled in December 2020.”

AICTE has also provided relief to the admission seekers in Open and Distance Learning PGDM/PGCM programmes offered by B-schools by extending the last date of admission. Now the last date for admission in 2 sessions for open and Distance Learning courses stands extended to August 30, 2020 & February 28, 2021.          

AICTE May 1 announcement came a day after a letter written by education sector body EPSI. In a letter to AICTE Chairman, written on April 30, 2020, EPSI had called for early start of the PGDM program. UGC had announced that Universities should start their new session from September 1, or later. Appreciating the announcement by AICTE, Dr H. Chaturvedi, Alt President, EPSI and Director BIMTECH Greater Noida, commented “The AICTE Notification on Academic Calendar for PGDM session has cleared the path for starting the new academic session" and added further "We appreciate AICTE for recognising the unique nature of standalone PGDM institutions.” Now, AICTE after taking stock of Covid-19 pandemic situation has again revised the academic calendar on August 13, 2020.  

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