With the need for differentiation increasing significantly in the management education institute (MEI) sector, the MEI Grading Service offered by India’s rating major ICRA Limited (ICRA) has gained further momentum.

Confirming the trend, ICRA has announced MEI Gradings for the School of Business Management (SBM), Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Science (NMIMS); Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship; Hyderabad Business School; and Acharya Institute of Technology, MBA.
 
An ICRA MEI Grading reflects ICRA’s current opinion on the quality of education imparted at the institute concerned. The Grading is arrived at following an analysis against several quantitative and qualitative parameters that ICRA has drawn up on the basis of its own research, and in consultation with various experts in the field of professional education and in the “user industries”. The MEI Gradings are assigned on a five-point scale, from EB1 through to EB5, with EB1 reflecting very high quality of management education, and EB5 low quality of management education. (Please refer ICRA’s website www.icra.in for the Grading Scale and Definitions.)

ICRA has assigned an "EB1 IN" Grading at the all-India level, and an “EB1 MH” Grading at the State level to the MBA Core (referred to as Core), MBA Banking Management (BM) and MBA Capital Markets (CM) courses offered by SBM, NMIMS, Mumbai. The Gradings factor in SBM’s established track record in the field of management education and its position as a premier business school in the country; its highly qualified and experienced faculty; its strong interface with industry through seminars, lectures and corporate projects; and its flexible course structure.

Further, ICRA has assigned an “ICRA EB 2 IN” Grading at the all-India level, and an “ICRA EB 2+ KA” Grading at the State level to Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship, Bengaluru; an “ICRA EB 3 IN” at the all-India level, and an “ICRA EB 3+ AP” Grading at the State level to Hyderabad Business School, Hyderabad; and an  “ICRA EB 4 IN” Grading at the all-India level to Acharya Institute of Technology, MBA, Bengaluru.

Speaking on the developments Mr. Naresh Takkar, Managing Director, ICRA, said, “ICRA’s MEI Grading Service, by providing a reliable and independent opinion on the quality of education imparted by the MEI graded, seeks to benefit all the stakeholders: the students, recruiters, faculty, and the institute itself.”

Elaborating on the utility of the service, Mr. Takkar added, “An ICRA-assigned MEI Grading, being a measure of the relative quality of education imparted, would facilitate selection of one institute over another, while facilitating benchmarking as well. This in turn should promote greater standardisation of infrastructure and practices within the management education sector.”