Each academic year is subdivided into four quarters of eleven weeks each. The regular course load in a quarter is three courses of three credits each. Each three-credit course consists of 30 hours of classroom contact. Participants normally have 9 hours of classroom contact per week, with classes scheduled on Friday mornings and Saturdays. In special cases, students are allowed to increase their load by taking courses they have missed/failed in earlier quarters, or by undertaking projects in addition to regular classes.

The modular design of the program allows participants to tailor (within certain parameters) the sequence of courses. After completion of the first year, participants have the flexibility to be away from the program for one or more quarters if necessitated by work-related assignments. The participant is required to complete 96 credits including both core and elective courses within a maximum of six academic years.

The student accumulates 30 credits in the first year as he goes through the stipulated core(compulsory)courses over the four quarters in the first year. Participants are expected to take electives for the remaining credits during the next six quarters. During the subsequent quarters students are allowed to chose any number of credits in a particular quarter, upto a maximum of 12.

In addition to the core and elective courses, participants are required to do a compulsory three credit individual project on any industry of interest in order to gain domain experience. They can also do an additional project course for three credits.

Participants of the PGSEM, with the approval of their employers, can avail of exchange opportunities with foreign universities (universities with which IIMB has an exchange agreement). In addition, participants can take courses in top universities in case they are posted outside the country as a part of their employment and have credits for those courses transferred to the PGSEM course.