Madras School of Economics’ BA to be on par with foreign degrees – Times of India

Chennai: With Madras School of Economics (MSE) rolling out its first ever BA (Honours) in Economics from 2022-23, Tamil Nadu students get an opportunity to pursue an undergraduate degree on par with foreign degrees.
Of 80 seats available in the course, at least 28 students from Tamil Nadu will get a chance to join the course as 35% of the seats are reserved for the residents of the state.
Of the 400 applications received for the three-year programme this year, more than 50% of them were from Tamil Nadu which is in contrast to postgraduate courses that would attract 50% students from places like Delhi and Kolkata.
MSE will conduct an entrance on July 2 and the course will commence from August 1.
Unlike the other colleges, MSE will follow a quantitative approach while teaching economics to undergraduate students. “In the first semester, we will teach students statistical and mathematical tools which will equip them for quantitative analysis,” said institute director K R Shanmugam.
The degree programme will also offer elective courses such as environmental economics, financial economics, game theory, risk management, energy economics, issue in development economics and machine learning and data science courses.
Besides Chennai, students from Coimbatore and Madurai also have applied.
“More than 90% of students joining in PG courses were from Delhi and Kolkata and other states from outside. Tamil Nadu students were not able to compete with students from other states in our PG entrance exam. Now, UG students trained at MSE have a better chance of cracking the PG entrance exam,” he added.
MSE, which ranks second after Delhi School of Economics, boasts of nearly 100% placement for its PG students with an average salary of ₹13lakh per annum.
“Besides opportunities to pursue PG courses, BA students will adapt better in foreign universities if they go for higher education as they also follow a similar quantitative approach,” Shanmugam added.
More than 1400 applications were received for 150 seats in five MA degree programmes. “Of 1,400 applications for the PG programme, 50% of them are from Delhi, Kolkata,” officials said.
MSE will award its own degree for UG, PG and PhD students. The state recognised MSE as an institute of special importance in economics and allied subjects and management with degree granting power through Madras School of Economics Act, 2020.
The institute offered these programmes jointly with Central University of Tamil Nadu (CUTN) in Tiruvarur till last year.