IIT Bombay Opens MBA Admissions to Non-Engineers in 2025

• From 2025–26, candidates with a 3-year first-class Bachelor’s degree in any discipline are eligible for MBA admission.
• The change promotes gender and academic diversity, enriching classroom discussions and management training.
• This decision reflects recruiter feedback seeking more diverse talent for hiring and HR planning.

The Shailesh J Mehta School of Management at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has updated the minimum eligibility requirements for MBA admissions. Until last year, individuals holding either a Bachelor's Degree or a Master's Degree in any field with first-class honors (or a minimum CPI of 6.5 out of 10) were qualified for MBA program admission.

With the revision, candidates holding a three-year Bachelor's Degree in any discipline with first class (or a minimum CPI of 6.5 out of 10) now meet the minimum eligibility criteria for admission to the MBA starting from the academic year 2025-26. The MBA batch for 2025-27 will include a notable portion of candidates from various fields, in contrast to last year when most students were engineers.

This update in eligibility requirements aims to enhance both discipline and gender diversity within the cohort, considering the diverse fields associated with management. The varied groups will contribute unique viewpoints to classroom discussions and enhance the educational experience.

The case method used in management education and training necessitates diversity in the classroom because of the unstructured situations managers are required to deal with, where no singular solutions or algorithms exist for problem-solving, unlike in Science and Engineering.

Also Read: Breaking Down the Executive MBA: Is It the Right Choice for You?

Recruiting firms have been under pressure to enhance gender (and discipline) diversity in their hiring and human resource planning, prompting numerous management institutions to adopt various strategies to boost gender and discipline diversity when selecting students for their management programs.

The ongoing and consistent feedback from recruiters coming to SJMSOM is also a factor in the decision to update the eligibility criteria. There is no rationale or justification to limit admission to engineering and science students, considering that the School provides a general MBA degree.

The press release issued by IIT Bombay states, “The recruiting companies have also been facing pressures to improve gender (and discipline) diversity while hiring and planning their human resources and hence many management institutions have been employing different means to improve gender and discipline diversity while admitting students to their management programs.”