The Standard Taxonomy.

The delivery of a full MBA-grade curriculum without requiring a learner's continuous physical presence on a legacy campus.

Off-Campus Management Education refers to any structurally complete graduate-level management program in which cognitive coursework, assessment, and applied practice are delivered through logistical infrastructure that is location-agnostic. It is not a lesser variant of a residential MBA; it is a distinct operational model designed for working operators.

Instruction and assessment that decouple learner participation from a fixed classroom clock.

Asynchronous learning permits the learner to consume lectures, readings, and problem sets on a personally scheduled timeline. Under the MBA Council Framework, asynchronous delivery is the default modality for cognitive units; synchronous sessions are reserved for cohort defense, viva, and applied capstone review.

Two overlapping but non-identical delivery modes.

A Distance MBA is a regulatory category defined by the non-continuous physical attendance of the learner and typically requires physical study material and proctored terminal examinations. An Online MBA describes the medium of delivery — the internet — regardless of regulatory category. Under the MBA Council Framework, both must satisfy the same 40/60 assessment weightage and Multi-Modal Delivery Mandate.

The learner's structural right to compress or extend cognitive load within a defined semester envelope.

Time Fluidity is the principle that a mature learner-operator determines the pace at which knowledge is internalized, provided that examination checkpoints and applied deliverables are met. Institutes adopting the framework must publish maximum and minimum durations for each semester rather than a single mandated pace.

A regional, logistical service node — not an academic campus.

A Micro-Campus is a physical or contracted facility used strictly for proctored examinations, physical dispatch of books, and viva sessions. It carries no faculty, no classrooms, and no residential requirement. Its existence exists to satisfy logistical integrity and jurisdictional examination requirements.

The instructional treatment of AI as an operator's tool, not as a computer science subject.

Applied AI in Management is the teaching of Large Language Models, predictive analytics, and workflow automation to business operators. It focuses on prompt architecture, tool orchestration, decision augmentation, and organizational adoption — not on model training, algorithmic derivation, or academic ML theory.

A composite evaluation combining written, oral, and applied deliverables.

Multi-Modal Assessment requires at least three distinct evaluative channels per semester: a written terminal examination, an oral defense or viva, and an applied artifact (case, model, or deployment). The 40/60 weightage prescribed by MBAC 100 governs the split between internal and terminal components.

The mandated split between continuous internal assessment and terminal examination.

Forty percent of the final grade is derived from continuous internal assessment — assignments, applied projects, and cohort deliverables. Sixty percent is derived from a proctored terminal examination administered at the close of the semester. Deviating from this weightage disqualifies a program from claiming alignment with the framework.

The obligation to deliver each semester through at least three concurrent channels.

Every semester must be delivered through (i) physical study material dispatched to the learner, (ii) asynchronous digital lectures, and (iii) synchronous cohort sessions. Reliance on a single channel — for example, video-only delivery — violates the mandate.

A semester whose credential outcome is complete and independently meaningful.

Each of the four semesters in MBAC 100 must confer a self-standing credential (Certificate, Diploma, Advanced Diploma, and finally the MBA). A learner exiting after any semester carries a defensible credential; the semesters compose upward without discarding prior attainment.

The non-negotiable common curriculum shared across every adopting institute.

The Foundational Management Core (MBAC 100 §C-2) fixes the minimum shared syllabus across Accounting, Economics, Operations, Strategy, and Organizational Behavior. Specializations, electives, and regional adaptations extend, but never replace, the core.

The proctored, end-of-semester summative assessment.

The Terminal Examination is a proctored, invigilated assessment held at a Micro-Campus or approved test center at the close of each semester. It contributes sixty percent of the semester grade under the 40/60 rule.

A synchronous oral examination of the learner's applied work.

The Viva Defense is a live, one-to-one or panel oral examination in which the learner defends their applied artifacts. It is a mandatory component of the internal assessment envelope.

An institute publicly stating operational conformance with the framework.

An Aligned Institute is any autonomous educational operator or legacy university publicly declaring that its off-campus program is 'Aligned with the MBA Council Framework.' Alignment is a self-declared claim; the Council does not verify or endorse alignment.

The requirement that the advertised fee equal the total fee.

Under the Learner's Charter (MBAC 050), the fee advertised at the point of enrollment must be the absolute final fee. Additional charges for standard infrastructure — books, terminal examinations, viva — are prohibited and constitute a violation of the framework.