Difference between MBA and PGDM

It is essential to know what parameters to look into before getting admission into any particular course or college– MBA or PGDM.

One of the major differences while comparing MBA and PGDM is that MBA or Master of Business Administration is a degree course that can only be offered by the colleges affiliated with universities. Hence, the MBA curriculum totally depends on the respective university they cannot take their own decision to changes in curriculum according to market requirements. Whereas PGDM or Post Graduate Diploma in Management is a diploma course offered by autonomous institutes that's why PGDM colleges/Business Schools can take a decision according to market management requirements which help the student to make the knowledge extraordinary.

For example, The MBA College is affiliated with University and hence offers an MBA degree. While the PGDM Colleges /Business Schools like Pune Business School are autonomous in nature and hence offer PGDM courses which are AICTE approved.

Major Difference between the internships is PGDM colleges led to full-time internships for students in the PGDM course syllabus while MBA colleges cannot provide time for a full-time internship for students.MBA curriculum has available only four-week internship at two different time slots of different semesters

In the table, we have compared MBA vs. PGDM on different parameters that should give you clarity about their compatibility.

Parameters	MBA	PGDM
Eligibility	Completed your graduation of 3 years  from a recognized board. You must have scored a minimum of 50% or equivalent CGPA in your graduation. A valid cut-off score of CAT/GMAT.	Graduates from any stream can apply for this course. Admission is mostly based on entrance exams like MAT, CAT, XAT, and more.
Accreditation	Accredited by University Grants Commission (UGC)	Accredited by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)
Course Structure	Mostly theoretical in nature based and uniform across institutes affiliated to a university. Mostly semester-based	Industry/Business oriented program focused more on building soft skills. Mostly trimester-based
Duration	Two years	Two years

Both MBA and PGDM are viewed as equivalent in terms of employment perspective. Also, while PGDM courses might be industry/Business-oriented and preferred by the corporate world.