A recent development at a premier Indian business school has brought a critical but underexamined question to the surface: does the placement system of a business school treat every student equally, regardless of which campus they study at? As pooled and centralised placement models come under scrutiny, MBA aspirants need to ask sharper questions before …
Centralised vs Campus Placements: Differences, Benefits & Opportunities
A significant development has emerged from the 2025 placement season at one of India’s premier business schools. At the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade’s Kolkata campus, approximately 34 percent of the MBA International Business batch reportedly did not receive job offers by the end of the placement season. Students have raised concerns about unequal access within a pooled placement system that manages hiring across multiple campuses centrally.
This situation raises important questions that every MBA aspirant should be asking before choosing a business school. Not about any specific institution, but about placement systems in general.
1. What is a Pooled Placement System?
A pooled placement system combines students from multiple campuses of the same institution and presents them as a single entity to recruiting companies. In principle, this creates a larger talent pool and a unified brand. In practice, it can create unequal access if:
- Companies predominantly shortlist students from specific campuses
- CVs are not distributed equitably across all campuses
- Hiring processes are completed before all campus students are given equal opportunity to participate
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2. What Is a Campus-Specific Placement System?
A campus-specific or decentralised placement system manages the placement process independently for each campus. Each campus builds its own recruiter relationships, manages its own placement calendar, and is accountable for its own outcomes.
This model ensures:
- Every student at every campus has direct and equal access to the placement process
- Placement teams are accountable to the students they serve
- Outcomes are transparent and campus-specific rather than aggregated across locations
3. Why This Matters for MBA Aspirants in 2026
The IIFT Kolkata situation illustrates a risk that applies to any multi-campus institution using a pooled model. The risk is structural, not necessarily intentional. When a central team manages placements across campuses, priority can gravitate towards the campus with the strongest recruiter relationships, the largest alumni network, or the longest institutional history.
For a student paying full fees and investing two years of their career, the assumption that being part of a well-known institution automatically guarantees equal placement opportunity may not hold.
4. What Jaipuria Institute of Management Does Differently
A centralised system is only as strong as its ability to deliver equally across every campus it serves. Jaipuria runs its centralised placement model across four campuses in Lucknow, Noida, Jaipur, and Indore, with the same preparation standards, the same recruiter access, and the same accountability for outcomes applied consistently across all locations. Every student, regardless of which campus they attend, enters the placement process backed by the same institutional infrastructure.Â
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The 2025 season reflected this consistency, with near-equal gender representation in placement outcomes at 51 percent men and 49 percent women, and broad sector coverage spanning Financial Services, Banking, Consulting, Manufacturing, IT, FMCG, and Retail across the full batch.
5. Questions MBA Aspirants Should Ask Before Choosing a B-School
Before accepting an offer from any multi-campus institution, ask:
- Is the placement system pooled or campus-specific?
- Are placement statistics reported campus-wise or only at an aggregate level?
- Which companies visit which campuses, and at what volumes?
- What is the placement rate at the specific campus you will be attending?
- Who is accountable if a student does not receive an offer?
These are not adversarial questions. They are the due diligence every student making a significant educational investment deserves to do.
Conclusion
The placement system of a business school is as important as its curriculum, its faculty, and its brand. A strong institutional name does not automatically translate into equal placement opportunity for every student at every campus. MBA aspirants who evaluate placement systems with the same rigour they apply to rankings and fees will make significantly better-informed decisions about where to invest two years of their career and a significant amount of money.
Group Discussion Topics
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: What is the difference between a pooled and a campus-specific placement system?
A pooled system manages placements centrally across multiple campuses under one brand. A campus-specific system gives each campus its own placement process, recruiter relationships, and accountability for outcomes.
Q2: What are the risks of a pooled placement system for MBA students?
The primary risk is unequal access. Companies may preferentially shortlist students from specific campuses, and students at other campuses may receive fewer interview opportunities despite being part of the same institutional brand.
Q3: How should MBA aspirants evaluate placement data from multi-campus institutions?
Always ask for campus-wise placement data rather than aggregate institutional figures. Look for placement rates, median salaries, and recruiter lists specific to the campus you will be attending.
Q4: Does Jaipuria Institute of Management use a pooled or campus-specific placement system?
Jaipuria Institute of Management runs a centralised placement model across its four campuses in Lucknow, Noida, Jaipur, and Indore, applying the same preparation standards, recruiter access, and accountability for outcomes consistently across all locations. Every student, regardless of which campus they attend, is supported by the same institutional placement infrastructure.
Q5: Why do some institutions use pooled placement systems?
Pooled systems are designed to present a unified institutional brand to recruiters and to leverage the combined reputation of multiple campuses. They can work well when managed with genuine equity across campuses but require careful oversight to ensure fair access.
Q6: What questions should MBA aspirants ask about placement systems during admissions?
Ask whether placements are managed campus-wise or centrally, request campus-specific placement statistics, ask which companies visit which campuses, and clarify who is accountable for placement outcomes at your specific campus.
Q7: Is a well-known institutional brand a guarantee of good placement outcomes?
Not automatically. Placement outcomes depend on the specific campus’s recruiter relationships, placement cell quality, student preparation, and the structure of the placement system. Brand recognition is one factor among several.
Q8: What does campus-specific placement accountability mean in practice?
It means the placement team at each campus is directly responsible for securing opportunities for the students at that campus, building campus-level recruiter relationships, and reporting outcomes transparently to their specific student body.
Q9: What is the most important placement-related question an MBA aspirant can ask?
Ask for the placement rate, median salary, and recruiter list specific to the campus you will attend, not the combined statistics of the institution as a whole. That single question will reveal more about the actual quality of placement than any headline figure.
