According to Bishnu Hari Pandey, Chief Executive Officer of Everest College, Kathmandu, both the BBA and BBS programmes have their own respective markets. He believes that if the practical aspect is added to a BBS course, there is not much difference between a BBA and a BBS. Pandey says that while the BBA focuses on a practical education, the BBS focuses on core management education. A BBA student needs to study 42 different subjects in four years (eight semesters), while a BBS student studies just 20 subjects during the period. “Because fewer subjects are taught in the BBS, the progamme’s students can focus on getting in-depth knowledge of their subjects,” says Pandey, who is also the Chief Executive Officer at Premier College.

“And because we provide equal access during the internship opportunities we provide for our BBS students, they get a lot of practical exposure.” He says that the students from his college can intern at the Chaudhary Group, NMB Bank and Century Commercial Bank, among others. Similarly, the colleges have tie ups with Banglore University, Southern Cross University, Australia, and Waiariki Institute of Technology, New Zealand, among others; the students also have the opportunity to transfer credits to these institutions abroad.

Bishnu Bhusal, programme coordinator for the BBS and BA at Trinity College, says that the four-year BBS programme gives due priority to practical education, and this shapes up the students better for the demands of the market. “Now BBS students get an equal level of exposure to the BBA students,” he says.

The BBS education providers believe that the lower fee structure is also a pull factor. A student can get four years of BBS education for just Rs 180,000, which is almost half of what it costs to get a BBA. Until a few years ago, a BBS student would have problems getting admission to foreign colleges after graduation, mostly because the course was only a three-year one. “Now the BBS and BBA have the same equivalency,” says Mohan Adhikari, principal at Campion College.

Marketable managers

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The eight-semester programme under the affiliation of four universities within the country cost from Rs 260,000 to Rs 500,000, depending upon the colleges and universities they are affiliated with, while the colleges under foreign affiliation charge from Rs 0.6 to 1.5 million for the four- year programme. The other factor that makes this programme highly sought after is that students from all other faculties can also take the course.  Suman Shrestha, marketing officer at The British College (TBC), says that their college has a credit-transfer system that provides opportunities to their students for international exposure while also helping theme scope out the international market. “Our college offers the British degree; therefore, a graduate from TBC can compete for jobs across the globe,” he adds.

One of main attractions that BBA course have is their success rates and the potential for getting good marks in the examination. While the pass rate for the other faculties is hardly 40 percent, the success rate of the BBA programme is above 80 percent in all the universities. And unlike many other programmes, most BBA programmes start their academic sessions on the designated start dates, and follow up with timely exams, whose results are published on time too.

There are other draws too. Pankaj Jalan, the executive director at Lord Buddha Education Foundation (LBEF), says a BBA programme provides options for specialising in many sectors, which is not possible in many other programmes. A BBA student can specialise in Banking and Insurance, Human Resources, Finance, International Business, Informational Technology, Aviation Management, Retail Management, Communication & Media management, Fashion management and Public System Management. “With the advancements being made in the business and commercial sector, there is a demand for graduates who specialise in specific sectors,” says Jalan, whose institution has been offering both the general and specialised course in Retail Management.