The Imperial College of Business Studies, Lahore (ICBS), was established in 1991 by the Pakistan Benevolence & Social Management Trust. In a short span, ICBS has established a truly enviable reputation for integrity and excellence in higher education. The College offers highly market relevant undergraduate and graduate programs in business administration and related areas. ICBS is actively involve
d in research and offering short training courses for industry. Major programs in this area include courses for Small Business Finance Corporation (now the SME Bank), First Women Bank, and the Pakistan Television Corporation. The quality of higher education in Pakistan is naturally of a major concern to the College and its sponsors. The pursuit of quality is the raison de’tre of ICBS. Our students have also excelled at universities abroad, a few are even teaching abroad. All this has been made possible by the unrelenting efforts of our faculty. The College has one of the most qualified groups of faculty members. Almost all the faculty members have foreign academic credentials – and as a group, perhaps there would be few institutions in Pakistan that could match this. ICBS has Academic Advisors comprising faculty in the USA, UK and the Middle East and in the past has signed MOUs/Agreements for student exchanges and faculty collaboration with several universities in the USA and UK. The faculty and staff, and facilities alone are not sufficient determinants of quality – another key input is the quality of its student intake. ICBS has very selective student body. Typically, only about fifty percent of all applicants are accepted for admission. A significant proportion of these students have a first class bachelor’s degree from institutions like the Government College, Lahore and Kinnaird College, Lahore. The students, who are admitted through a rigorous screening process, generally have outstanding schooling and academic background. ICBS gives liberal financial aid to students on need and merit basis. A large number of scholarships are available for the kin of armed forces and civil servants. Additionally full scholarships have also been established by private donors. At ICBS excellence in academics is not the sole focus. We instill in our students a deep sense of social responsibility and respect for humanity. ICBS does not only educate and train students, we strive to educate and enlighten in the broadest sense of the word. ICBS has the unique distinction of introducing “Leadership and Community Development” a project undertaken by all its students where they are required to conceive, finance, manage and implement a project of some benefit to the community.
* ICBS is chartered by the Government of Punjab as an independent degree-awarding institution, (Imperial College of Business Studies Ordinance, 2002). The College degrees are recognized by the Higher Education Commission and by institutions abroad.
* ICBS is the first business school in Punjab, public or private to be certified as having quality management systems through ISO 9001:2000
* ICBS is the member of the International Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE), Dublin.
