The Full form of PGDM is Post Graduate Diploma in Management. PGDM is a 2-years full time management course offered by many universities and institutes in India. This course can be divided into 4 or 6 semesters depending upon the curriculum of different universities and institutes. The institutes, running PGDM courses are approved by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in India, under the Ministry of HRD, Government of India.
The course subjects and structure of PGDM is almost similar to Masters of Business Administration (MBA). The only difference between them is that PGDM is a Post Graduate Diploma Course while MBA provides a degree. PGDM programs in India may not be affiliated to any university, that’s why it should not be considered as a degree course. Some of the most common subjects studied in PGDM across all institutes in India are: Human resources, Marketing, Finance, Accounting, Information Technology, Operations management, Supply Chain Management etc.
The students of PGDM can choose a subject for specialization in their last semester, according to their interest. However, if a student wishes to pursue higher education abroad, a university-affiliated MBA is counted as a degree giving him a better standing while a PGDM is considered to be a diploma. When it comes to career prospects in India, both PGDM and MBA courses are regarded as having equal value.