Not IIM Ahmedabad or Bangalore: This Indian University Had More Foreign MBA Students Than Any IIM| NIRF 2026 D

Which MBA College in India Had the Most Foreign Students? | NIRF 2026 Data Reveals

Exploring this further, we looked into the recently submitted NIRF 2026 data and observed a less-discussed trend. Out of more than 600 management colleges that submitted data for the NIRF 2026 ranking, we analysed 28 colleges that admitted more than 10 foreign students in MBA admissions. Over 700 students — around 3% of the total admitted students in these colleges — were from outside India.

Now, if you had to guess which MBA colleges these foreign students study at, an IIM would most likely come to mind — naturally, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, or IIM Calcutta, since they've carried the "best B-school in India" tag for years. You'd be wrong, and surprised, to learn that the MBA college in India with the most foreign students isn't any globally ranked institution — it's Chandigarh University, a name that rarely comes to mind when we think of top B-schools in India. Chandigarh University had 105 foreign students out of its total 1,500 MBA students, followed by KIIT, with 67 students from outside India, and then HITS, with 42.

Shocking that an IIM or any other well-known name doesn't top this list of colleges admitting foreign MBA students. Let's explore further to see how many foreign students did an MBA in India, and which colleges they chose.

How Many Foreign Students Studied MBA in India, and at Which Colleges?

To get a clear picture of how many foreign students took MBA admission in India for the 2023–25 batch, we considered only the colleges where more than 10 foreign students were admitted, as per the NIRF 2026 submitted data.

• 700 students were from outside India, out of the 21,376 MBA students across the 28 colleges we analysed.

• The top 6 colleges on this list accounted for almost 45% of foreign MBA enrolments, and only 3 IIMs/IITs appeared on the entire list. IIM Kozhikode, IIT Delhi, and IIM Bangalore were the most prominent names, with 27, 15, and 12 foreign students admitted for MBA, respectively.

• These MBA colleges with foreign students span 9 states — Punjab, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, UP, Kerala, Gujarat, Karnataka, Delhi, and Assam.

Check out the complete list of MBA colleges by number of foreign students below.

How Many Foreign Students Studied MBA in India in NIRF-Ranked Colleges Last Year?

One thing is evident from this list of NIRF-ranked MBA colleges in India with foreign students: a lower NIRF rank doesn't necessarily mean lower international appeal. Despite having a lower rank in the NIRF 2025 ranking, some private MBA colleges had more students from outside India than foreign students doing MBA in India from the IIMs.

• Among these 28 colleges where the number of foreign MBA students was more than 10, 15 fall under the NIRF top 100.

• Chandigarh University, ranked 32 in the NIRF 2025 ranking, alone had 105 foreign MBA students — more than IIM Bangalore, IIM Kozhikode, and IIT Delhi combined (54).

• Among these NIRF-ranked MBA colleges with foreign students, Chitkara University, ranked 78, had the lowest number of foreign students in the last batch.

One thing is evident from this list of NIRF-ranked MBA colleges in India with foreign students: a lower NIRF rank doesn't necessarily mean lower international appeal. Despite having a lower rank in the NIRF 2025 ranking, some private MBA colleges had more students from outside India than foreign students doing MBA in India from the IIMs.

FT Global MBA Ranking 2026: How Many Foreign Students Did MBA from India's Globally Ranked B-Schools Last Year?

This year, only 9 Indian MBA colleges made it to the Financial Times Global Ranking 2026 — IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Indore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, ISB Hyderabad, XLRI, and SPJIMR.

• Across these globally ranked MBA colleges in India, only 52 students were from outside India in the last batch (2023–25) out of a total of 7,976 students — that's hardly 0.65%, far lower than the 3.3% seen among the 28 colleges we analysed overall.

• IIM Kozhikode, ranked 65 in this global ranking, had 27 foreign students in the last batch, whereas IIM Ahmedabad had just 3, and IIM Lucknow and IIM Calcutta reported zero foreign student enrolments.

• ISB Hyderabad, which tops this global ranking among Indian colleges, didn't disclose its total or foreign student numbers in the NIRF 2026 data.

Check out the complete list of Indian MBA colleges ranked as per the FT Global Ranking 2026, along with their foreign student admit numbers.

Which MBA Colleges in India with Foreign Students Hold AACSB, AMBA, or EQUIS Accreditation?

The NIRF 2026 submitted data on foreign students who did an MBA from Indian colleges suggests that they've taken admission irrespective of the global accreditation a college holds. Among global MBA college accreditations, the most prominent are AACSB, AMBA, and EQUIS.

• None of these 28 colleges that we analysed hold all three accreditations together. In fact, only 5 of the 28 colleges have any global accreditation at all.

• Chandigarh University holds no global accreditation, despite having the highest number of foreign MBA students.

• Rajagiri Business School, which had 33 foreign students, is the only B-school with AACSB accreditation.

• IIM Kozhikode and IIM Bangalore, on the other hand, hold both AMBA and EQUIS accreditation.

Here is the list of the 28 MBA colleges with more than 10 foreign students and their accreditations.

Putting all of this data into perspective — do you think India will have a global standing someday where we will see the same craze among foreign students to come to India for MBA as we see in Indian MBA aspirants? The fresh UG graduates in the corporate world are often seen making statements out loud that they are giving GMAT and eyeing MBA abroad, but will that ever reverse?

The trend of attracting foreign students to India looks promising for a few colleges, but overall, it still looks weak until the top-ranked ones start attracting foreign talent too.IIMs and IITs, despite their ranking and reputation in India, aren't necessarily pulling in large numbers of international students. IIM Lucknow and IIM Calcutta had zero foreign students, and ISB Hyderabad — another top choice among MBA students in India — chose not to report its student data. On the other hand, private universities like Chandigarh University, Galgotias, Sharda, and Jain have witnessed a large number of foreign students opting for MBA admissions. All of this raises an important question - Why are foreign students choosing these not-so-popular colleges for pursuing MBA in India compared to MBA colleges in their country or top-ranked MBA colleges in India?