Today I got a great news from my friend in UK.

“..The 2004 Budget announced a new provision for graduates of 50 top business schools to work in the UK for up to 12 months on completing their MBAs. This provision will form part of the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP).

The HSMP is designed to attract highly skilled people to the UK to seek and take work. The MBA provision within this addresses the weakness in the UK economy in the quality of management by attracting highly qualified and talented managers to the UK. The Masters in Business Administration remains one of the most recognised and respected management qualifications

Who will be eligible?

Individuals who graduate from one of the eligible MBA programmes at the time it is on the list will be eligible to apply for the MBA provision. We have yet to finalise the other requirements of the provision. Successful applicants will be awarded the minimum number of points necessary to qualify under HSMP, but will still need to meet the remaining requirements of the programme.

When we have finalised the details of the provision, they will be published here.

When will it be launched?

We are looking to launch the MBA provision in April 2005…”

Details of the scheme
List of 50 top business schools identified

I am happy that CRANFIELD and OXFORD are in that list…More reasons for me to expedite the application process. Now that ISB interview dates are delayed and acceptance decision will not be announced before January 15, I will make use of this 40 odd days to send the apps.

IIM Ahmedabad announced it’s one year PGP programme for Executives [PGPX], which is scheduled to start on April 2, 2006. It’s in the lines of ISB. With it’s established brand, and a fees half of what ISB charges, no doubt this program will grab great attention. But as far as one year program in India is concerned, ISB is still the pioneer. Good to have competition. Will have to wait and see how ISB is going to react..

http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/latest/pgpxone.htm
http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/latest/faqs.htm

PGP for Executives:

Here are the basic criteria:
(a) Bachelor’s Degree in any discipline
(b) Minimum work experience of 7 years
(c) Minimum Age – 27 years on the first day of the course [born on or before March 31,1979 for batch starting on April 2, 2006]
(d) Upper age limit: None
(e) GMAT score obtained not earlier than 1-4-2002 for batch starting on 2-4-2006
(f) No relaxation in length of work experience requirement for those who hold Master’s Degree or any other advanced academic degree

Fees: 17,600 $ [Approx. 8,00,000.00 including tuition, library, IT, accomodation etc.,]

What degree is offered at the end of the programme?
On successful completion, participants will be given a Post Graduate Diploma in Management. This may be considered equivalent to the one-year management programmes offered by INSEAD (France), Indian School of Business (India), Asian Institute of Management (Philippines), University of Pittsburgh (USA), Cranfield (UK), etc.