I beg to differ. The real reason should be because UPM itself is not even qualified to provide a decent MBA course. Those prestigious business school around the world come with extremely expensive school fees for a lot of reasons (exclusivity aside). The course structure, exposure are definitely a few of the main selling points here. Some even include a internship placement in world renowned companies, Fortune 500, top IB's and so on.

As for the issue regarding quality control of MBA students, that's another funny thing about MBA programs in Malaysia. I've once compared the minimum requirement of MBA program in certain decent business school(both local and oversea), and I found out that in Malaysia: Basically ANYONE that has a degree can just enroll into most of the MBA program, with or WITHOUT relevant working experience. Heck, I don't even see any MBA program in malaysia that requires minimum GMAT score of 600/800 to be at least qualified for MBA course enrollment. Havard, INSEAD, Wharton, LSE, some of them even go to the extend of requiring GMAT score at least 760/800 to be able to be qualified. My point here is GMAT is not actually THAT difficult, but it serves at the most basic filter and provide some basics and fundamental of management.

As the title of MBA itself suggests, does it make sense to you for a fresh graduate to enroll into a MBA program right after graduation? I've had one colleague last time working as a mere drafter. She took part-time MBA in some local university and all she did was probably online lecture, some coursework based assignment, and occasionally attend some lectures during weekends. She didn't even know what is a GMAT and when she said "GMAT or not doesn't matter lah, as long as I finish every coursework, pass the paper test, get the cert, then I can get MBA already". I was speechless. I guess the MBA is just like another MSc/master program that solely intended for salary increment and slightly positive career advancement.

Maybe these are the reasons why MBA is 'cheap' and not well recognized by the employers in Malaysia.

p/s: Anyway, I heard that Boston Consulting Group in Malaysia only hires MBA graduates from Harvard and INSEAD, and the starting pay is about 10k for fresh. Not sure how that works out for them.