Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)

Key facts

Checked against the sources listed at the bottom of this page on 5 November 2026.

About LUMS

LUMS was founded in 1985, when it received its charter. The idea came from the businessman Syed Babar Ali, who saw a shortage of qualified managers in Pakistan and shared it with his friend Abdul Razak Dawood. The university first worked from a small rented bungalow; a new 100-acre campus in DHA, Lahore, opened in 1993, and the first 65 undergraduates arrived in 1994.^[1]

It has five schools:^[1]

• Suleman Dawood School of Business: began as an MBA programme; AACSB accreditation in 2019.
• Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences: began with a BA-LL.B in 2003 and was renamed in 2012.
• Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering: building inaugurated in 2011.
• Shaikh Ahmad Hassan School of Law: inaugurated in 2015.
• Syed Ahsan Ali and Syed Maratib Ali School of Education: announced in 2016.

The university reports 5,457 students; Wikipedia’s infobox gives 5,768 and notes in its text that its own student figures are outdated.^[2][6]

How is LUMS ranked?

In the QS World University Rankings 2027, LUMS is joint 608th, according to a Dawn report of 20 June 2026.^[3] ProPakistani and Eduvision report the same position, marked as joint.^[8][9] That puts it fifth among the 18 Pakistani universities in the edition, behind Quaid-i-Azam University (joint 381st), NUST (384th), PIEAS (joint 560th) and the University of the Punjab (588th).^[3] Wikipedia lists LUMS at 555th in the 2026 edition.^[6]

LUMS’s ranking page gives its Times Higher Education World University Rankings band as 801–1000 (no edition year on the page), with subject bands of 401–500 in Business & Economics and 501–600 in Engineering. The QS figures on that page appear only as images, which we could not read.^[7] Rankings differ by publisher and year. How we compile rankings.

What can you study at LUMS?

LUMS lists 22 undergraduate majors and 28 graduate degrees across its five schools.^[2] Subjects range from management, economics and law to science, engineering and education; use the programme finder on the LUMS website to check which majors and degrees are offered.^[2]

PhD programmes are described as fully funded for four years with a monthly stipend, according to the PhD Management fee page.^[4]

How much does LUMS cost?

LUMS publishes fees in Pakistani rupees (PKR) by fiscal year and programme. We could not read an undergraduate or an international-student fee schedule, and the international students page gives no tuition figure.^[10] The one schedule we could read is the PhD Management page for FY 2026–27 (first year, 9 credit hours a semester):^[4]

The page gives a tuition rate of PKR 56,600 per credit hour for FY 2026–27 and hostel fees per semester of PKR 98,800 (double occupancy) and PKR 71,900 (triple occupancy). It says PhD programmes are fully funded for four years with a monthly stipend, so this table is a price list rather than what a PhD student pays. LUMS may change its fees at any time.^[4] Do not read these amounts as undergraduate fees.

Financial aid and scholarships

LUMS says it supports about one in four students and has disbursed PKR 15.3 billion in financial assistance since its founding.^[2] For international undergraduates from SAARC member countries other than Pakistan, the Shahid Hussain Foundation Scholarship is open through the online application; the page states no amount. An Asian Development Bank–Japan Scholarship Program route exists for the MBA.^[11] The home page also mentions 100 merit scholarships for top-ranked undergraduate applicants.^[2]

For living costs in Lahore, see our Pakistan guide.

How do you apply to LUMS?

Applications run through the LUMS online admissions portal. For international applicants the university lists these steps: check eligibility and the important dates, take the required admission test, create an online account and fill in the application form, pay the processing fee, and upload the supporting documents.^[10]

• Undergraduate tests: applicants to the science and engineering school choose one of SAT, ACT or LCAT. For the business, humanities and social sciences, education and law schools, SAT, ACT or LCAT is mandatory, and law applicants also take a Law Admission Test. There is no minimum SAT or ACT score; the best score from a single attempt counts.^[5]
• International students page: it names “GMAT/GRE/SAT” as the required test without saying which applies to which programme.^[10]
• Foreign nationals (graduate FAQ): a foreign applicant is someone “not of Pakistani origin” without a Pakistani passport, NICOP or CNIC; dual nationals with Pakistani nationality are not eligible for this route. HEC equivalence is submitted after admission, not at application.^[5]
• Visa: a Pakistani study visa is issued by the embassy or consulate only after HEC and Ministry of Interior clearance, so start early after an offer.^[10]

The processing fee amount is not stated on the pages we read, and the fee is non-refundable once submitted.^[5] We give no deadlines here because they change every year; the portal currently shows the Fall 2027 cycle.^[2]

Which language level do you need?

The LUMS pages we read give no minimum English test score. For graduate applicants, GRE, TOEFL and IELTS scores are optional and “not a requirement for the application”. For undergraduate applicants, academic records in another language need an official English translation submitted with the originals.^[5] The international students page does not mention an English requirement.^[10] Check the programme page or ask the admissions office before you apply.

More about studying in Pakistan

• Pakistan: best universities
• Cost of Studying Abroad
• International Student Scholarships
• University Ranking Methodology

More university profiles in Pakistan

• Aga Khan University
• National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST)
• Quaid-i-Azam University
• University of the Punjab