A great multitude of students wish to pursue an MBA but aren’t able to because they don’t have the money and/or time to enrol into a full-time two-year MBA program. Distance MBA has proved to be a major boon for all such aspiring students, enabling them to get an affordable MBA degree while working simultaneously in a full-time/part-time job.

Distance MBA is also a duly approved course by the UGC (University Grants Commission) now as UGC through an announcement in May 2018 granted higher educational institutions the permission to offer distance learning online certificate, diploma and degree courses, and directed that these courses should be treated at par with the regular classroom programs.

All institutes who had been offering such programs approved by UGC at the undergraduate level in the form of open and distance learning programs or the regular classroom programs, with at least one graduated batch, can now also offer Distance MBA to the aspiring students. If you’re keen to enrol into a Distance MBA program of a reputed institute, please know there are hundreds of them that offer such courses in India today. However, there is only a handful that is worth putting in your effort and time. Let’s start by first understanding what Distance MBA means.

A Distance MBA program is essentially an affordable and flexible MBA course, recognized by the government and not requiring you to attend classes on a daily basis. Hence, if you’re someone who can’t pursue a full-time MBA program because of the high cost or paucity of time, a Distance MBA can come to your rescue. The best of the Distance MBA colleges in India provide online MBA, correspondence off-line MBA or a program which is a combination of the two (through the distance learning mode). All such distance education programs, including the Distance MBA, come under the control of UGC which is constantly working for better quality and governance in this domain.

There are different types of institutions which are recognized by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, to offer distance education, including Distance MBA programs in India. These institutions are:

• Distance MBA program offered by the state open universities
• Distance MBA program offered by the Indira Gandhi National open University (IGNOU) or National open University (NOU)
• DEIs or Distance Education Institutions run by the Institutions of National Importance: Deemed to be Universities, State Universities, State Private Universities and Central Universities
• Distance MBA programs offered by DEIs of stand-alone institutions: Private Institutions, Government Institutions and Professional Associations

If we talk about which university is best for MBA distance education, below provided are the top 10 Distance MBA colleges/universities in India that you can opt for:

• Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) Global Access School for Continuing Education (NGA SCE)
• Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Centre for Distance Learning
• Symbiosis Center for Distance Learning
• Sikkim Manipal University Directorate of Distance Education
• Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)
• Amity University (Distance Learning)
• Prin LN Welingkar Institute of Management
• MIT School of Distance Education
• Annamalai University
• ICFAI University

If you’re someone who is still sitting on the fence with regard to Distance MBA programs, the below-mentioned facts will help you take that leap:

An extremely cost-effective option – Counted amongst the major benefits of Distance MBA is the fact that it proves to be a very affordable option. While on one hand, a full-time MBA course can set you back by anywhere from ₹ 5 lakh - ₹ 15 lakh, a Distance MBA program from a good institution or university will cost you no more than ₹ 75,000 to ₹ 1.5 lakh.

It proves best for time management – A Distance MBA program will give you flexibility in terms of speed and time, compared to regular MBA. It works best for people who can’t attend a full-time MBA program because of various reasons including money and time constraints.

Well recognized by all the regulatory bodies – If you complete your Distance MBA program from a recognized MBA College, you’ll be studying at an institute approved by the Distance Education Bureau (DEB) of the UGC. The approval status of the concerned MBA College can be verified by visiting the DEB website.

Makes full use of new-age educational technologies – Distance MBA education is something that makes optimum use of the power of new-age educational technologies, bringing the classroom to your home. Even the best business schools and universities of the world, including Harvard Business School and MIT, are making effective use of such technologies to deliver their programs in different parts of the world. In addition, platforms and MOOCs like Udacity, Edex and Coursera have done away with the stigma once associated with distance learning programs.

Industry-relevant curriculum – The reputed Distance MBA institutes such as IMT CDL, Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning, NMIMS University and others are seasoned enough to know the pulse of the market and make sure that their courses contain industry-relevant and updated curriculum, in line with the changing business environment.

Continuity in employment – Distance MBA degrees are often pursued by professionals as these programs proved to be ideal for working people who find it difficult to attend regular courses. Distance MBA enables them to enhance their managerial skills while acquiring a new degree simultaneously with their jobs.

The eligibility criteria for Distance MBA program might vary from Institute Institute and University to University, depending also upon the duration of the course. However, if we talk about the basic Distance MBA eligibility criteria for the common two-year program, it is:

• Bachelor’s degree from a recognized University
• Work experience preferred, but not a necessary requirement
• A valid score in a recognized MBA entrance exam such as CAT, XAT, MAT, MMS-CET, ATMA, CMAT or another. You might need to clear the entrance test of the college in case you don’t have a valid MBA entrance exam score.

The fee for the Distance MBA program might play a key role in deciding which specific Distance MBA college to opt for. Please note, the Distance MBA fee might vary from one Institute to the other, depending upon the program’s duration and the college’s brand name. The fee for Distance MBA normally ranges from ₹ 50,000 to ₹ 1.5 lakh in India, and can be lower in case of government universities like Anna University. On the other hand, it can be higher in case of private universities such as Symbiosis and Narsee Monjee.

At today’s time most of the B-Schools are offering distance learning programs and a huge number of MBA aspirants are benefiting from it. Students choose specializations which are relevant with their career choice. Choosing a specialization in distance learning is as simple as selecting it for a full time course. Following are the major MBA specialization offered in Distance Learning:

1. MBA in Finance

2. MBA in Marketing

3. MBA in Human Resource

4. MBA in Operation Management

5. MBA in Information Technology

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