The IBA Karachi, which is in the public sector, has, over the years, established a solid level of credibility in the market for having tough entrance criteria including transparent admissions tests and interviews and a consistent implementation of disciplinary standards.

Established since 1955, in collaboration with the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, University of Pennsylvania. The Institute later associated itself with the University of Southern California. Today, the Institute is the largest graduate business school in the Third World and its status was elevated to a degree-awarding institution four years ago.

The Institute offers, among other programmes a three-year, full-time degree of Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA Hons), followed by a two-year, full-time master's degree in business administration (MBA), and MBA MIS programme (Computer) an MBA banking course, a part-time MBA and a PhD programme.

Although, established just a little over a decade ago, the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) has come to be regarded as the second best institute for business education in the country and has established an assurance and confidence in its meritorious and thorough academic programmes.

LUMS accords a high priority to research, and applied research in particular, which is considered as an important element in the achievement of the overall mission of the University.

The University's Centre for Management and Economic Research coordinates and conducts research on major economic and management issues in the country as well as the region.

The Small and Medium Enterprise Centre assesses the specific training and development needs of small enterprise owners/managers and to design and deliver training programmes addressing these needs.

As a part of their regular curriculum, LUMS offers a two-year MBA and a three-year B Sc (Hons) in Computer and Economics.

The International School of Management Sciences, which is affiliated with Newport University in the USA, has three campuses in Pakistan one each in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi and offer, in addition to the BBA programme a full-time as well as part-time MBA programme, with three semesters of overall management courses.

The Hamdard Institute of Management Sciences of Hamdard University which received its charter in 1991, offers BBA (Hons), MS in Business Informatics, MS in Finance, MS in Advertising as well as MBA.

College of Business Management, another centre for business education is affiliated not with a foreign university but with Sir Syed University, which was chartered around the same time as Hamdard University .

Less than three years in operation, the college has managed to gather high rated faculty members and is endorsed by the city's notables in the business community such as Arif Habib, Jahangir Siddiqui and S .M.Muneer.

The College offers a three-year BBA (Hons) degree besides a two-year MBA degree with specialisation in accounting, finance and banking, management, marketing and MIS as well as a career placement service.

Pak-AIMS, affiliated with Punjab University Lahore was established in Lahore in 1987 and offers a two-year MBA programme with options to specialise in marketing, finance or accounting, as well as three-year Executive MBA, a three-year BCS and a two-year BBA degree programme.

The City College of Higher Education in Karachi, also offers an undergraduate programmes with one year of study in Karachi and the subsequent two years in Britain. The College claims an affiliation with twelve British Universities.

Institute of Business Administration and Technology which claims an affiliation with Adamson University, offers MBA programme in marketing management, finance an human resource management, production management and its degree is awarded by Adamson University in Manila.

A standard of quality education has been established by the Institute of Business Administration of Karachi from the public sector institution and the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) from the private sector. And the graduates from these two institutions are being given job preference in the market both in the private and the corporate sectors. At the lower end of the quality are those coming out now to replace the BCom degree holders in the job market and do not really mind what salary they are offered.

Other public sector universities that offer business education include Bahauddin Zakariyah University, Multan; Punjab University, Lahore; Peshawar University and Allama Iqbal Open University. But, except for the IBA Karachi, the product of these universities, as far as business education is concerned was generally not welcomed in the market until recent years when they improved their standards due to the stiff competition encountered from the private sector.

Beside the ones that have been mentioned earlier, others in the run, include, Lloyds School of Business, International University of America which claimed to be a local campus of the same University based in Canada, School of Business and Commerce which is affiliated with Preston University.

Preston University is more than 14 years old in the country and operates two campuses in the city at present beside other campuses in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar and Hyderabad.

Others include Institute of Business Administration and Technology, (IBADAT) which claims affiliation with Adamson University of Manila,