HYDERABAD: Tuition fees for engineering courses, especially in computer science, have become a growing burden on parents in Telangana. Private professional colleges have been increasing fees by 20–30 per cent each year, and 2025 is no exception.
This trend has heightened concerns about the commercialisation of education. Parents said even lesser-known colleges have hiked fees, particularly for computer science and allied streams such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, semiconductor design and robotics.
Leading private institutions, including CBIT, VNR Vignana Jyothi, Vasavi, MGIT and Narayana, are charging between Rs 1.65 lakh and Rs 3 lakh per year for computer science courses, compared to government-funded universities like Osmania and JNTUH, where fees for B.Tech programmes range from Rs 1.5 lakh to about Rs 3 lakh for the entire course.
Despite the lower costs in government institutions, many students still prefer private colleges, citing poor infrastructure and inadequate teaching staff in government institutions.
Parents’ concerns
Parents said the lack of a finalised fee structure has added to the confusion this year. “My daughter secured a seat in a reputed private college through TGEAPCET, but apart from the official tuition fee of Rs 1.5 lakh annually, we had to pay miscellaneous charges. In total, it came to around Rs 15 lakh in the first year,” said a parent.
Another parent, Sai Raj, said he was asked to pay a donation under management quota in addition to tuition fees last year. “Colleges are adding courses like AI, ML and cyber security and using them to justify higher charges,” he said.
A professor from a private college, who did not wish to be named, said: “For the past five years, the situation has been the same. If a college claims high expenses, it should show where the money is going, whether it is classrooms, staff salaries or labs. Otherwise it’s an empty hike. We hope the new fee regulation committee will verify these claims.”
Despite these hikes, TGEAPCET 2025 data shows that computer science and allied branches remain the most sought-after streams, with 59,219 of 65,080 available seats filled this year. Civil and mechanical streams saw about 50 per cent of seats filled.
Dr N Ramesh Babu, chairman of the Federation of Associations of Telangana Higher Education, said the state’s engineering syllabus remains outdated.
“In civil engineering, for instance, BIM software is essential in construction management. Yet no university here has included it. Students study old material and miss jobs, so they prefer computer science instead,” he said.
Education experts noted that even some of Telangana’s top government universities continue to use outdated laboratory equipment. Many of these institutions, they said, are struggling financially because the government has not released pending fee reimbursement dues.
Meanwhile, the fees charged by private colleges keep on rising. According to the All India Survey on Higher Education (2020–21), private engineering tuition fees have risen by more than 50 per cent over the past decade. Education inflation, which fell to 0.63 per cent during the pandemic, is now around 11–12 per cent.
Dependence on pvt colleges
Officials said the rise in fees is linked to infrastructure costs, faculty salaries and technology upgrades. With 363 private professional colleges and only about 25 government institutions in the state, most students depend on private colleges.
The Telangana Admission and Fee Regulation Committee (TAFRC) has now been authorised to fix fees for private unaided institutions.
A 10-member expert committee has been formed to create a framework, introducing new parameters such as scrutiny of colleges’ fee structures, rankings, quality of education,
and internal assessment systems, said Prof V Balakista Reddy, chairman of the TGCHE and head of the expert committee. The committee recently held public hearings with 160 colleges and will submit its report soon.
The way forward
Experts warn that unchecked fee increases could worsen disparities unless systemic reforms are pursued. Former IAS officer, politician and activist Jaya Prakash Narayana said strengthening engineering education requires a two-pronged approach: “The two key factors are increasing competition and improving the quality of education.”
He noted that the state government’s fee reimbursement scheme, originally introduced with high expectations, has been weakened by delays in releasing funds. This, he explained, allows well-managed colleges to command premium fees while many seats elsewhere go unfilled.
“Unless standards across all colleges are raised to a minimum level, competition and therefore prices will keep escalating,” he cautioned.
Narayana emphasised that a comprehensive review of fee structures, academic quality, pending reimbursements and irregularities is essential to fix the system.
On regulating fees through official committees, he warned, “If you merely create a committee to decide fees, corruption will flourish as colleges will pay bribes to get the structure they want. That’s not the right approach.”
Instead, he argued, strengthening competition and ensuring that most colleges perform reasonably well would reduce pressure on students to get into a few high-fee institutions and create a fairer environment.
Higher Education Seats in Telangana
In the state’s engineering colleges, approximately 70% of seats are filled under the convenor quota, with the remaining seats allocated under the management quota (Category B), which typically comprises around 23,000 seats. A certain percentage of seats are reserved for specific categories like SC, ST, BC and EWS, alongside a horizontal reservation for women. In the recent TGEAPCET, there were a total of 90,246 seats under the convenor quota. Of these, 76,793 were filled, and 13,453 remained vacant
TGCHE releases phase-II seat allotment for B.Ed course
Hyderabad: The Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TGCHE) on Sunday released phase-II seat allotment for the B.Ed course. Around 7,441 students have been allotted seats in the second phase under the convenor quota. According to officials, the total number of seats available under this quota for B.Ed course is 10,005 and number of candidates who exercised web options were 12,076, of which 7,441 were allotted seats in the second phase of counselling. The students should pay tuition fee (if applicable) online through credit card/debit card/net banking. After paying tuition fee, students should download the payment receipt and joining report, and report to the allotted college with original certificates for physical verification between September 15 and 18, 2025. After successful verification of original certificates, the allotment order will be issued at the college.