ISB 25th anniversary scholarships: The Indian School of Business (ISB) has announced a series of initiatives to mark its 25th anniversary, aimed at making management education more accessible and strengthening research and teaching capacity across India.
ISB25 Scholars Programme
To help students from different economic, geographical, and professional backgrounds access management education at ISB, the institute has introduced the ISB25 Scholars Programme. Under this initiative, ISB will offer 250 scholarships every year across its Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) and Post Graduate Programme in Management for Young Leaders (PGP YL).
Scholarship Tiers: Tuition Fee Waivers
Through the ISB25 Scholars Programme, students will receive tuition fee waivers based on merit and financial need, structured across the following tiers:
- 100% tuition fee waiver
- 50% tuition fee waiver
- 30% tuition fee waiver
- 25% tuition fee waiver
This tiered structure ensures that scholarships are distributed based on a combination of academic merit and genuine financial need, rather than a single flat criterion.
India Research Commons: A New National Platform
In addition to the scholarship programme, ISB has announced plans to establish the India Research Commons, a national platform that will provide researchers across India with access to:
- Curated datasets
- Research tools
- Methodological resources
- AI-enabled research infrastructure
This initiative is designed to strengthen India’s broader research ecosystem by giving researchers — not just those at ISB — access to shared, high-quality resources that might otherwise be difficult to access individually.
National Faculty Development Programme
ISB will also launch a national faculty development programme, aimed at sharing its teaching methods, classroom practices, and technology-enabled learning approaches with management institutions across the country. This move signals an effort by ISB to extend its pedagogical influence beyond its own campuses, contributing to broader improvements in management education quality nationally.
Context: ISB’s Recent Initiatives
According to ISB, these new initiatives follow the institute’s recent efforts to align its academic offerings with the evolving needs of learners and industry.
For context, in 2025, ISB had launched its PGP YL programme with an inaugural batch of 130 students, of which more than one-third received tuition waivers. The institute had also introduced ISB Discover, a digital platform designed to make faculty research more accessible to policymakers, business leaders, and the public.
Key Highlights
| Particular | Details |
|---|---|
| Institute | Indian School of Business (ISB) |
| Milestone | 25th anniversary |
| New scholarship programme | ISB25 Scholars Programme |
| Scholarships offered annually | 250 |
| Applicable programmes | PGP, PGP YL |
| Tuition waiver tiers | 100%, 50%, 30%, 25% |
| New research platform | India Research Commons |
| New teaching initiative | National Faculty Development Programme |
| PGP YL 2025 batch size | 130 (1/3+ received waivers) |
Why This Matters?
These initiatives mark a significant expansion of ISB’s role beyond just delivering management education on its own campuses. By committing to 250 scholarships annually, ISB is directly addressing accessibility concerns that often limit talented candidates from economically or geographically disadvantaged backgrounds from pursuing a premium MBA-equivalent education.
Meanwhile, the India Research Commons and the national faculty development programme reflect a broader ambition: positioning ISB not just as an individual business school, but as a contributor to India’s wider research and management education ecosystem. For prospective students, especially those who may have previously viewed ISB’s fees as a barrier, this expanded scholarship commitment could meaningfully widen the pool of applicants able to consider the institute seriously.
