MBA Admissions 2026: Five key trends reshaping India’s business school landscape

This is the season for MBA 2026 admissions, during which students, parents and business schools begin a journey that culminates in the start of a new academic year. While some business schools such as the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), XLRI Jamshedpur, MDI Gurgaon and IIFT New Delhi have stopped accepting applications, others like IMI New Delhi, IMT Ghaziabad and TAPMI, Manipal are inching towards their last application dates.

This is only the first step in the final admission process. What follows are another four stages, which include clearing entrance exams such as the Common Admission Test (CAT) and XAT and, based on these scores, applying to various schools, participating in personal interviews and group discussions. Estimates suggest that about 3 lakh students registered for CAT 2025. This year too, the number is expected to be more or less the same. Finally, after selecting one of the schools, the study fees are paid. Even though work experience is not mandatory in most schools, many of them prefer students who have worked for at least 12 to 24 months. Fees also vary widely from school to school, ranging from about ₹12 lakh at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi to ₹30 lakh at MDI, Gurgaon.

Says Abhimanyu Saxena, Co-Founder of Scaler & Scaler School of Business, “Admissions at Scaler School of Business are currently in progress and we are seeing strong early-stage interest this time. With evolving trends in management education, we now see a new generation of business schools emerging that are reimagining MBA offerings. Institutions like Scaler School of Business are designing education around agility, employability and relevance, directly responding to growing learner expectations and meeting industry needs.”

Adds Teevrta Kaul, Head of Human Resources at Chandigarh-based Net Solutions, “With the business world getting more complex globally, we are now hiring MBAs who have specialised competencies in reimagining AI-based solutions for our clients. Further, we look for MBA candidates who have the ability to play multiple roles beyond their traditional focus on strategy and consulting. Marketing-led lead generation and business analytics are additional skills that we prefer.”

Key trends

At this stage of admissions, five important trends are emerging.

Global political shifts

One, the broader backdrop is quite similar to last year, marked by global political shifts, a slowdown in economic growth in some parts of the world and relative stability in countries such as India. Negative sentiment arising from growing violence in the US, including on educational campuses, a dip in scholarships and lower federal funding to universities has made parents and students cautious about applying to US business schools. Further, the placement landscape is shifting. Consider one aspect: US business schools are now rethinking how much emphasis should be placed on sustainability. In 2015, 193 member countries of the United Nations reached a consensus on implementing 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), leading many business schools in the US, Europe and Asia to introduce courses aimed at building leaders capable of implementing SDGs. However, with President Trump upending the US relationship with the UN and SDGs, many schools—particularly in the US—are reassessing how to respond. The United States’ loss has become India’s gain, as students who might have applied to US schools are now opting to stay back in India.

Campus visits

Two, campus visits to kickstart the admission process at top-tier Indian schools are in full swing. Selection panels, typically comprising two professors and sometimes an alumnus, are visiting around 15 cities, from Mumbai to Kochi. Along with personal interviews, some schools are also using algorithm-based shortlisting of applicants.

UPSC vs MBA

Three, an interesting trend is that many applicants are simultaneously preparing for the UPSC civil services examinations while also applying for MBA admissions. Further, driven by a deep desire to pursue an MBA degree, some candidates with work experience are taking sabbaticals of up to two years to prepare for business school entrance exams. This carries inherent risks, as companies do not always view employment gaps favourably. With the slowdown in the IT industry, which traditionally hires large numbers of engineering graduates, many students are now opting to pursue an MBA.

Admission and applicants

Four, many top schools do not appear to be facing difficulty in attracting the required number of applicants. IILM University, for example, which typically selects about 800–1,000 students every year, is expected to enrol a similar number this year. With AI skills becoming essential across industries, many schools are incorporating AI into their curricula. Data analytics is another favoured skill gaining popularity among students. Given the continued demand for MBA graduates, institutions such as the Indian School of Business (ISB), which earlier focused primarily on a one-year MBA programme, have recently introduced a longer 20-month MBA. All of this indicates that demand for an MBA degree continues to remain optimistic despite global uncertainties. Scaler School’s Abhimanyu adds, “AI is fast becoming a baseline skill across business roles, prompting new-age schools to redesign MBA programmes. This evolution is also resonating strongly with candidates from family business backgrounds who are keen to leverage AI to drive efficiency and scale their operations.”

Hiring and jobs

Five, with the growth of entrepreneurship and start-ups in India, it is not only new-age companies that are hiring MBAs; even legacy institutions are rethinking the value of management education. This is best captured by Dr. Devi Shetty, Chairman of IIM Bangalore and founder of Narayana Hrudayalaya, who said, “I have trained as a cardiac surgeon and manage a large hospital group focused on making high-quality care affordable to the common man. Yet, one of my biggest regrets is that I didn’t study for a professional management degree. Surgeons are like artists and approach the world through feel, touch and instinct. However, the world of business is more complicated than an open chest, and only those who can synthesise multiple data points will be able to make good decisions.”