It’s hard to turn down an IIM, even for a degree it has no experience offering.

So, when M got accepted to IIM Sirmaur in Himachal Pradesh in October, he accepted, despite being four months in at another reputed college in south India.

Here’s the thing: this wasn’t for the IIM’s flagship post-graduate programme (PGP), but for a new bachelor of management studies (BMS)—a four-year course that costs a cool Rs 23 lakh overall. In contrast, the BBA course M was already enrolled at cost only Rs 6,000 in total. 

That didn’t stop the 18-year-old from becoming one of the first students in the country to pursue a standalone undergraduate degree from an IIM.

Until 2024, this was unheard of. IIMs were known for their post-graduate courses. They did have five-year integrated programmes allowing students to stop after three years, but never a pure undergraduate course. 

Now, suddenly, three of them are offering one. 

Apart from IIM Sirmaur, there’s IIM Kozhikode in Kerala with its four-year BMS degree and IIM Sambalpur in Odisha that offers two business-studies degrees, one in management and public policy, and the other in data science and AI.

More are looking to follow in their footsteps. Both IIM Bangalore and IIM Lucknow confirmed that they are in discussions to launch undergraduate courses. IIM Bangalore has already been running an online-only BBA in digital business entrepreneurship since May 2024.

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