IIM Placements & Salary Packages Drop, but IIMs Fees are Rising; Shouldn’t IIMs Stop Fees Increase for Admission 2025?

In last few years, Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs) have rampantly increased their MBA fees. According to MBAUniverse.com analysis, the average increase in IIM fees have far outstripped the inflation. However, the average salaries offered during Placements 2024 at almost all IIMs have gone down. As results, students are facing hardships, as almost 80% of students at top B-schools pay their MBA fees through education loans with high interest rates. 
The big question is that in such a scenario, shouldn’t the IIMs, who have big corpus and many revenue streams, restrain from the annual fees hike for the upcoming Admission 2024? 

This article, based on the latest data available on MBAUniverse.com on IIM Placements and IIM Fees, presents key facts, and urges IIMs to take a humane view.

Sharp Increase in IIM MBA Fees 
Let’s start by looking at IIM MBA Fees. Since 2022, IIMs have substantially increased their MBA fees. Last year, almost all the IIMs have increased their MBA fees in recent years. Take for example IIM Mumbai, earlier NITIE Mumbai. 

This year, IIM Mumbai has increased its MBA fee for 2024-26 batch by more than Rs.7 lakhs! This is a 43 percent increase over the last year fees! This is a clear case of opportunism where IIM Mumbai has increased its fees exorbitantly to milk its newly acquired IIM tag.

As table 1, which is based on MBAUniverse.com analysis of IIM Fees clearly shows, all prominent IIMs including IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Kozhikode and IIM Calcutta have increase their fees by 5-20%.

Table 1: IIMs which have increased MBA Fees significantly 

IIM	Percentage Increase in 2024 from 2022	Fees for 2024-26 Batch	Fees for 2023-25 Batch	Fee for 2022-24 Batch
IIM Ahmedabad	+8%	Rs.26.50 lakhs	Rs. 25.00 lakhs	Rs. 24.61 lakhs
IIM Bangalore	+ 13%	Rs.26.20 lakhs	Rs. 24.70 lakhs	Rs. 23.20 lakhs
IIM Kozhikode	0%	Rs.20.50 lakhs	Rs. 20.50 lakhs	Rs. 20.50 lakhs
IIM Calcutta	+ 6.4%	N.A.	Rs. 25.00 lakhs	23.50 lakhs
IIM Mumbai	43%	Rs.21 lakhs	Rs.14.63 lakhs	--
IIM Shillong	41%	Rs.26.18 lakhs	Rs.21.50 lakhs	Rs.18.56 lakhs
IIM Kashipur	+12%	Rs.17.30 lakhs	Rs.17.30 lakhs	Rs.15.42 lakhs
IIM Udaipur	+26%	Rs.22.24 lakhs	Rs.21.43 lakhs	Rs.17.59 lakhs
IIM Tiruchirappalli	+18%	NA	Rs.21.00 Lakhs	Rs.16.50 lakhs
IIM Rohtak	+7.5%	Rs.17.90 lakhs	Rs.17.90 Lakhs	Rs.16.65 lakhs

Source: MBAUniverse.com IIM Placement 2024 & IIM Fees Page

IIM Kozhikode & IIM Indore emerge as role models 
It must be noted here than not all IIMs are increasing their MBA fees rampantly. Two exceptions are IIM Kozhikode and IIM Indore. As the table 2 shows, they have kept their MBA fees same, while improving their quality and rankings. 

Table 2: IIMs which have increased MBA Fees significantly 

IIM	Percentage Increase in 2024 from 2022	Fees for 2024-26 Batch	Fees for 2023-25 Batch	Fee for 2022-24 Batch
IIM Kozhikode	0%	Rs.20.50 lakhs	Rs. 20.50 lakhs	Rs. 20.50 lakhs
IIM Indore	0%	Rs.21.17 lakhs	Rs. 21.17 lakhs	Rs.21.17 lakhs

Source: MBAUniverse.com IIM Placement 2024 & IIM Fees Page.

Salary Packages Drop in IIM Placements 2024
MBA Students are facing a double whammy. While most IIMs are increasing their Fees, their Placements are actually going down! According to MBAUniverse.com analysis of IIM Placements, except for two IIMs, all IIMs have reported lower average salary figures in Placements 2024! 

Table 3 reveals the list of IIMs where Placements 2024 have dipped. In addition to drop in average salaries at IIM this year, there has also been a qualitative drop in roles and profiles of jobs offered. Many IIMs have publicly acknowledged that they had a ‘difficult placement season 2024’.

Table 3: Top IIM Placements 2024 With Dip in Salary

Top MBA College by Average Salary	Percentage Decrease over last year	MBA Average Salary 2023 (Rs LPA)	MBA Average Salary 2024 (Rs LPA)
IIM Kozhikode	- 9.6% Decrease	31.02	28.05
IIM Calcutta	Same as Last Year	35.07	35.07
IIM Lucknow	-6.8% Decrease	32.2	30.00
IIM Indore	-15% Decrease	30.21	25.68
IIM Shillong	-3% Decrease	26.96	26.10
IIM Udaipur	-7% Decrease	20.32	18.80
IIM Tiruchirappalli	-5% Decrease	20.55	19.43

Source: MBAUniverse.com IIM Placement 2024 & IIM Fees Page.

Here it must be noted IIM Bangalore, IIM Mumbai and IIM Rohtak have managed to increase their average salary. Table 4 has complete details. 

Table-4: Only Three IIMs Register Higher Average Salary 

Top MBA College by Average Salary	Percentage Increase/Decrease over last year	MBA Average Salary 2023 (Rs LPA)	MBA Average Salary 2024 (Rs LPA)
IIM Bangalore	+1.7% Increase	35.31	35.92
IIM Mumbai	+11.7% Increase	27.75	31.00
IIM Rohtak	+3% Increase	18.73	19.27

Source: MBAUniverse.com IIM Placement 2024 & IIM Fees Page.

Will IIMs Continue Increasing Fee in 2025?
In light of above facts, shouldn’t the IIMs stop increasing the fee for 2025-27 batch? Can they not generate additional resources from other activities and new initiatives?  

In fact, IIMs have surplus funds and earn a lot from Consultancy, MDPs and other projects. They can utilize these surplus funds to check any sharp increase in fees. 

Take for example IIM Ahmedabad. As per the latest NIRF Management Rankings 2024, in 2022-23, IIM Ahmedabad had earned Rs. 8,84,79,698 from sponsored Research, Rs. 81,46,39,748 from Consultancy projects, Rs. 107,20,90,431 from EDPs/MDPs. These surplus funds are a great source of income to IIMs and can be used to check the fee hike. IIMs can make stronger efforts towards earning more funds from these and other sources. 

From the above data it is amply clear that while IIMs have increased their fees substantially, the average salaries offered to students during the recent IIM placements have gone down. As results, students are facing hardships. IIMs, who have big corpus and many revenue streams, should refrain from annual fees hikes, and present a more humane face to the MBA aspirants and their parents.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on IIM Fees and IIM Placements.