Icfai to offer engg, law from this year

The Icfai Foundation for Higher Education (IFHE) will offer engineering and law courses at its Shankarpally campus, about 40 kilometre from Hyderabad, from this academic year.

The university has already sought permission from the University Grants Commission for the courses. Being a deemed university, it would design its own curriculum and also the admission process for these two courses, according to Icfai Business School (IBS) director DS Rao.

To begin with, it will offer the engineering course in five disciplines and admit 60 students in each stream. The law course, for which it has received permission from the Bar Council, too will be for five years leading to a BA LLB degree.

“We are awaiting an inspection by the UGC team,” Rao said, adding the deemed university would introduce masters programme gradually.

IFHE is in the process of creating the required infrastructure including laboratories and library facilities for the proposed courses.

Meanwhile, the IBS has completed the interviews for admission to its two-year MBA course. On an average, it admits about 900 students. For the one-year executive programme in management education, for which a three-year work experience is mandatory, the intake is 60.

The institute offers the MBA programme only at its Hyderabad, Dehra Dun, Tripura and Ranchi campuses The fee is Rs 4.75 lakh per annum. IBS centres in others cities offer only certificate programmes, Rao said.

It has also announced a BBA course from this academic year, for which admission would be based on the merit in Plus II.

On the placement front, 70 per cent of the 800 students who joined IBS in 2007 (passed out in 2009) have found placement. For the batch that would graduate this year, 60 per cent of the students had been placed so far as management trainees with an average compensation of Rs 5-5.5 lakh. The placement process will go on till April.

“The placement is picking up this year. Industry looks at the capabilities of the students rather than the degree affiliation,” the director said.

As part of its quality assurance system, it will seek SAQS accreditation from the Association of Management Development Institutions in South Asia shortly and from the Florida-headquartered Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and the Association of MBAs in the next phase.