IBA Karachi | Here’s Everything You Need To Know About It

The Institute of Business Administration Karachi (IBA Karachi) is the top business school in Pakistan. Here is everything you need to know about it.

The Institute of Business administration (IBA Karachi) is one of the oldest and most prestigious business schools of Pakistan. IBA was founded in 1955 by joint efforts of the Pakistani government and USAID and was provided operational support from Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California. It operated under the jurisdiction of University of Karachi for decades, but was later elevated to a degree-awarding institute by the Sindh Assembly in 1994. IBA has maintained its number one position in Pakistan over the course of its operations and is considered a premier institution for imparting education in the field of business administration and management. It is a public sector, general category university and is one of the leading business institutes of Pakistan.

Premises/Location

IBA currently operates two campuses. The older campus in situated inside the Karachi University and is accessible through the main University Road. The campus is equipped with a library, computer labs, an auditorium and various sports grounds. The newer campus, called the City Campus, is located in the Saddar area along the main MA Jinnah Road. The university’s information technology and executive programmes are taught at the city campus. 

Faculties/Departments/Centres

IBA Karachi mainly encompasses two faculties: Faculty of Business Administration (FBA) and Faculty of Computer Science (FCS). The FBA includes the departments of Accounting and Law, Economics & Finance, Management, Marketing and Social Sciences. On the other hand the FCS consists of departments of Computer Science, and Mathematical Sciences. IBA also has several centres of excellence that focus on imparting education and trainings in focused areas. These include Center For Business & Economic Research (CBER), Centre for Excellence in Journalism (CEJ), Center for Information & Communication Technology (CICT), AMAN Centre for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) and  Centre for Excellence in Islamic Finance (CEIF). 

Degree Programmes/Faculty Members

The varsity has more than 256 visiting, adjunct and permanent faculty members who hold masters and doctorate degrees from around the world, helping students gain a truly global perspective. IBA Karachi offers a number of degree programmes at the undergrad, postgrad and doctorate levels. It also offers a number of diplomas, skill development programmes and professional certifications in a variety of disciplines like business, management, computer science, social sciences and economics and finance, artificial intelligence, cryptography, numerical analysis and numerical computing.

Its undergrad programmes include the BS, BBA (Honors) degrees, the varsity offers MS and MBA programmemes at the graduate level, while it has also been running a successful PhD programme for a number of years now.

Check out this link  to see details of IBA’s master’s degree programmes.  Or you can find details of IBA’s bachelor’s programmes by clicking here. 

International Collaborations/Affiliations

IBA saw massive infrastructural and curricular changes under the reign of Dr Ishrat Hussain, the former governor of State Bank of Pakistan. In the last eight years, IBA has seen massive developments and have collaborated with a number of international educational institutes for joint degree programmes and accreditations. IBA is affiliated with world renowned educational institutions, international corporations and academic as well as research centres such as SAP, USAID, CEEMAN, MMU University.

The Washington Center, NUS University, UTS Australia, Oracle, Microsoft, University of Malaya, University of Southampton, GMAC, Sabanci Universities and the Association of Commonwealth Universities are just a few of the respected names that IBA is associated with. IBA is accredited by the South Asian Quality Assurance System (SAQS) and is also a member of European Foundation for Management Development. It is also the first university in Pakistan to be granted the status of a partner university by CFA.

Fees And Financial Aid/Scholarships

The fee for IBA Karachi’s MBA, BBA and BS programmes ranges from Rs 180,000 to Rs 220,000 per year, while that for the MS is about Rs 115,000 a year. However the university offers an extensive range of financial aid programmes for deserving students. Both the HEC scholarships and Sindh Endowment Scholarship Programme are affiliated with IBA. The university also maintains the KPK Talent Hunt Programme (KPKTHP) and Balochistan Talent Hunt Programme (BTHP) that aides students from less privileged households in KP and Balochistan to study at IBA.

IBA also offers financial assistance to deserving students through corporations. Students who lack the financial means for carrying out their educational pursuits are also eligible to apply for these programmes. They can opt for various financial assistance schemes provided by IBA that also includes fee instalment plans. IBA also offers need-based scholarships, study loans and/or interest free loans.

Students also apply for work-study appointment scheme that allows students to work part-time on campus to pay their dues before graduating and financing by corporation’s programme. Students who are eligible for this programme need to sign bonds with these enterprises to serve them as an employee after graduating. For further details about the IBA fee structure, please visit this link.

Student Facilities/Student Life

Although the university lagged behind in terms of infrastructural capabilities until about the year 2008, improved facilities were developed rapidly during the tenure of Dr Ishrat Hussain. A number of new buildings, including the impressive Aman Tower, were added in the last 10 years, addressing much of the campus’ shortcomings.

IBA Karachi has a well-equipped library that provides 24/7 campus-wide and remote access to a diversified range of multidisciplinary books and databases. Auditoriums, grounds and computer labs are aplenty and accessible by students readily. IBA has also set up the Centre for Business and Economics Research (CBER) to assist students and faculty members in their research endeavours. The centre offers research grants, organises seminars and conferences and also collaborates with various governmental and educational institutes.

IBA is a happening place for students, keeping them busy with a host of on and off-campus curricular and extracurricular activities. IBA has various fully independent student bodies that represent students of each stream of education at IBA. The Business Administration Students Club (BASC) represents business and management students, the Executive Students Forum (ESF) represents executive students, while the Business and Information Technology Students Forum (BITS) and Business Administration Society of Evening Students (BASES), represents IT and evening students, respectively. The office bearers are elected by students for a calendar year after extensive on-campus campaigns that light up the campus with activities.

Besides, IBA has over 27 student societies that organise concerts, sports events, drama festivals, beach outings, movie screenings and art activities on a regular basis, along with engaging students in numerous community services and activities. IBA also conducts Alumni get-togethers, seminars, corporate dinners, conferences and guest speaker sessions.

Hostel & Transport

IBA houses its students in their hostels situated in Karachi University. The hostels offer various facilities to its residents such as TV lounge, indoor games and activities and gymnasium, a student-run mess. IBA also has a fleet of buses that ply routes spread out across the city. Besides, both campuses are located in busy parts of the city, making accessing them through public transport extremely easy.

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