IIM Lucknow vs IIM Kozhikode: Two CAT Ceilings, Rs 2.75 Lakh Apart

Two old IIMs, one CAT, and a Rs 2.75 lakh fee gap most aspirants never price because both get filed under “dream college”. IIM Lucknow’s MBA costs a printed Rs 20,75,000; IIM Kozhikode’s costs Rs 23,50,000 — both read today, 4 October 2026, from the institutes’ own signed fee PDFs. The interesting differences are underneath the totals.

The two bills, side by side

	IIM Lucknow (Batch 2026-28)	IIM Kozhikode (PGP 2026-28)
Two-year fee	Rs 20,75,000	Rs 23,50,000
Year split	Rs 10,95,000 + Rs 9,80,000	Rs 11,75,000 + Rs 11,75,000
Tuition	Rs 2,10,000 × 6 terms (Rs 6,30,000 a year)	Rs 7,00,000 a year
Big second head	Infrastructure Rs 1,15,000 × 6 terms	Books Rs 1,15,000 + infrastructure Rs 1,20,000 + library Rs 95,000 a year
Deposits	Rs 20,000 refundable	Rs 25,000 caution + Rs 2,000 welfare fund
Hostel	Inside the infrastructure head	Rs 45,000 a year, inside the total
Mess	On actuals, every term	Rs 40,000 refundable deposit per term, outside the total
One-time	Rs 1,00,000 admission fee (Term I)	Rs 15,000 admission head; Rs 1,00,000 offer acceptance adjusted later

Lucknow front-loads: Term I is Rs 4,45,000 because the admission fee and deposits sit in it. Kozhikode spreads evenly. For loan planning, Lucknow’s year-one ask is the smaller of the two by Rs 80,000.

Two different ways to read a candidate

Kozhikode publishes the harder entry floor on paper. General category: 85 percentile overall with 75 sectionals, plus 60% in Class 10, Class 12 and graduation — a triple academic floor few IIMs print (CA/CMA/CS holders get a 50% route). The shortlist (AIS) weighs CAT index 50, Class 10 15, Class 12 20, diversity 10+5 and work experience 5; the final weighs CAT 35, PI 35, WAT 20, resume 10 — and the resume score explicitly rewards CA/CMA/CS and CFA levels. Your Class-12 marks from years ago still move this machine.

Lucknow publishes no numeric floor beyond the 50% eligibility bar (45% for SC/ST/PwD). It shortlists on CAT performance, scholastic achievement and relevant work experience, then runs WAT-PI at Bengaluru, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, New Delhi and Hyderabad from end-February. No printed weights, no printed academic floor — a weaker school record survives here more easily than inside Kozhikode’s 60/60/60 gate.

The placement evidence, and the gap

IIM Lucknow’s official batch-of-2026 report reads: 559 students, 580+ offers, average Rs 33.2 lakh, median Rs 32.9 lakh, highest Rs 1 crore domestic and Rs 65 lakh international, with percentile bands (top-5% average Rs 59.7 lakh) and 35% women. The median sitting Rs 3 lakh from the average tells you the distribution is tight — the typical Lucknow outcome, not just the top, is strong.

IIM Kozhikode links no consolidated salary table on the official pages we have opened — so this comparison does not quote one. That is an evidence gap, not a verdict: Kozhikode’s brand outcomes are strong by every account, but by our standard a number we cannot open does not get printed. If a portal shows you a Kozhikode average, ask which document it came from.

Who should pick which

• Pick Lucknow if you want the older, bigger machine with the published outcome distribution, the Rs 2.75 lakh cheaper bill, and a process that does not punish a weak Class-12 year — its machine reads CAT, scholastics overall and work experience, not a printed triple floor.
• Pick Kozhikode if your academic record is uniformly strong (60%+ everywhere), you hold a professional qualification the resume score rewards, and the Kerala campus with its finance and liberal-studies programme variants fits — the PGP-F and PGP-LSM run on the same fee structure, with international immersion costs extra.
• Either way — one CAT 2026 registration feeds both; the shortlist calendars run January (Kozhikode) and end-February (Lucknow). And if an agent offers a priced seat at either, both institutes’ own documents print exactly one route: CAT, the published stages, merit.