Online MBA specialisations list: every option at each college

A specialisation is the subject area you focus on in the second year of your MBA. At NMIMS, for example, every student takes the same core subjects in the first year, such as accounting, marketing and economics. In the second year, you choose extra subjects, called electives, from one area. That area is your specialisation.

NMIMS's online MBA programme report shows four electives in the third semester and three in the fourth. All seven come from the specialisation you choose. So a specialisation is a real part of your degree, and not just a name.

The table shows every subject area offered by the online MBAs on Sidenotes. Next to each area are the colleges that offer it, and the exact name each college uses. The areas offered at the most colleges come first.

Read down the list to find the area you want. Then look across to see which colleges offer it, and what each one calls it.

Some areas are offered at only one of the colleges on Sidenotes. If you need one of them, your choice of college is already made. Then you only need to check the fee, and the college's row on UGC's list.

Colleges often give the same area a different name, so read the list of subjects, not just the title. Data science is a good example. Manipal calls it Analytics and Data Science. Amity calls it Data Science. DPU puts AI and Machine Learning in the same area. Operations is another. NMIMS calls it Operations and Data Sciences, and Amity calls it Production and Operations Management.

These names sound alike, but the subjects inside them may differ. So compare the list of electives, not just the name. The name tells you the general area, and the electives tell you what you will actually study.

Some colleges let you study two areas, or go deeper into one. Manipal offers both. A dual specialisation means two areas. You take all of one area's electives in the third semester. Then you take all of the other's in the fourth. A super specialisation keeps one area for both semesters, so you go deeper into it.

For the other colleges, ask in writing whether you can take two areas, and how they appear on your degree and marksheets. A dual specialisation only helps if both areas are useful for the work you want to do.

Each specialisation is a set of electives. You study them in the second year, after the core subjects. At NMIMS, each specialisation has seven electives, according to its programme report. The table shows some of them.

Each course page on Sidenotes lists the electives for that area at that college, term by term. Read two colleges' lists side by side before you choose. The list tells you much more than the name does.

No. On the online MBAs on Sidenotes, each college charges one full fee for every specialisation it offers. So the subject you pick does not change the price. The fee depends on the college and on how you pay.

Whatever you specialise in, the degree you earn is an MBA. UGC lists the MBA itself, by university, mode and session, on the UGC-DEB list. So check your university's MBA row for your session, and save a dated copy.

Each college decides how the specialisation appears on your degree and marksheets. If this matters for a job you have in mind, ask the college before you join.

Choose the area first, then the college, and then compare fees. Think about the work you do now, and the work you want to do next. Ask people in that work which skills they use each day. A specialisation you want at a fair price is a better choice than a cheaper one you do not want.