Abhyspeeth Education Desk
Mumbai : In a significant shift aimed at fostering diversity and inclusiveness, IIT Bombay’s Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management has relaxed the eligibility criteria for its flagship MBA program. The change, which comes into effect for admissions to the 2025–27 batch, now allows students with three-year undergraduate or postgraduate degrees to apply — a major departure from the earlier rule that required a four-year degree.
Until now, only students holding a four-year bachelor’s or a postgraduate degree with first-class distinction were eligible to apply. This requirement often limited access to engineering graduates, who typically fulfill the four-year criterion. As a result, many students from non-engineering backgrounds — particularly those from Arts, Commerce, and Science streams — were left out, despite having the potential and academic credentials to pursue management education.
Recognizing this imbalance, IIT Bombay’s academic senate took a crucial decision to open the program to a wider academic pool. From now on, any student with a three-year degree and either first class or a minimum CPI (Cumulative Performance Index) of 6.5 out of 10 can apply for the MBA course. This not only democratizes access but is also expected to bring in greater intellectual and academic diversity to the classroom.
Adding to the flexibility, final-year students of undergraduate programs are also eligible to apply, provided they have scored at least 60% marks in their most recent university examination. For students from the SC and ST categories, the minimum required score has been relaxed to 55%, reinforcing the institute’s commitment to inclusion.
However, one condition remains unchanged — qualifying the Common Admission Test (CAT) is still mandatory. All applicants, regardless of their academic background, must appear for CAT and meet the institute’s required cutoff score to be considered for admission.
According to officials at IIT Bombay, this decision was driven by the need to ensure greater representation across disciplines and to encourage a mix of perspectives in MBA classrooms. “When students from varied academic fields interact, the learning environment becomes richer. It leads to better idea exchange, diverse viewpoints, and a more dynamic management education,” the institute said in a statement.
This policy update places IIT Bombay among a growing number of top institutions that are rethinking traditional eligibility frameworks in favor of more inclusive and multidisciplinary admission models. For thousands of students pursuing three-year degrees across India, it signals a long-awaited opportunity to aim for one of the country’s most prestigious MBA programs.
