A student receives admission to two strong MiM programmes.
One may cost around ?20-30 lakh in tuition and another can approach ?50 lakh or more in tuition alone, before accommodation and living expenses.
The natural question for parents is:
"If we spend substantially more, will our child get a substantially better career?"
Not necessarily.
Expensive Does Not Automatically Mean Better ROI
Consider the current tuition differences.
Nova SBE lists ?13,000 base tuition for non-EU students for its 2026/27 International Master's in Management. INSEAD lists MiM tuition of ?57,870, while HEC Paris states tuition of ?58,900, before certain additional charges and living expenses.
Yet tuition tells only one part of the story.
A MiM's real cost should include:
Tuition + Living Expenses + Travel + Opportunity Cost
A longer programme may cost more because the student spends additional months outside the workforce-but those months may also provide internships, professional experience or greater career exploration.
What Are You Actually Paying For?
At a more expensive business school, part of the investment may buy access to a particular combination of:
Brand + Alumni Network + Recruiters + Location + Career Services + International Exposure
But none of these guarantees employment.
Similarly, a less expensive programme should not automatically be considered better value simply because its fees are lower.
The key question is:
Where do graduates actually build their careers?
For example, Nova SBE reports that 78.8% of its International MiM graduates pursued an international career, demonstrating why students should examine employment geography rather than judging a programme merely by its Portuguese location.
Salary Alone Can Also Mislead
The Financial Times' MiM salary figures are often quoted when discussing ROI.
But FT's weighted salary measure is based on alumni salaries three years after graduation, with adjustments. It should not be interpreted as the salary an international student will receive immediately after completing the MiM.
A graduate working in Switzerland, London, Paris, Lisbon or India may have dramatically different salaries-and dramatically different living costs.
Therefore:
Higher Salary ? Automatically Higher Disposable Income or Faster Payback
Think About Career ROI, Not Just Financial ROI
Suppose Student A spends ?25 lakh and enters a career strongly aligned with their goals.
Student B spends ?80 lakh but struggles to enter the intended industry or geography.
Which investment produced better ROI?
The answer cannot be found in a ranking.
The BIDYUT Perspective
Before spending ?20 lakh-or ?80 lakh-families should calculate:
Total Investment ? Target Industry ? Employment Market ? Probability of Employment ? Expected Salary ? Loan Burden ? Career Progression
And there is one more factor:
What does the student already bring to the programme?
A business school cannot replace internships, communication ability, analytical skills, language capability or career clarity.
An ?80 lakh education does not automatically create an ?80 lakh career.
And a ?20 lakh programme is not automatically a compromise.
The right MiM is not necessarily the cheapest or the most expensive.
It is the programme where the investment, student's profile and career opportunity make sense together.
BIDYUT
Global Education Advisory
Strategy. Admission. Future.