Looking closely at IIM Indore versus IIM Kozhikode or Shillong is a great case study. While Indore has an incredibly strong brand, their slightly higher batch intake means you have to compete much harder internally to land those top-bracket packages compared to a leaner batch setup.

People sleep on the IIT management programs (IIT Bombay, Delhi, Kharagpur), but look at those stats. With low structural fees and massive corporate tech-consulting pull, their ROI metrics comfortably humble most of the private tier-1.5 institutes charging nearly double the fees.

This table proves that you cannot beat the public university trio FMS, JBIMS, and TISS. When your all-in investment is a fraction of the legacy IIMs but your final package lands in the same mid-20s or 30s bracket, your payback period is essentially zero. That's the smartest math a management student can do.