Engineering College Fees Likely to Spike

BENGALURU:Fees for engineering courses are set to rise several fold if the government approves the proposals submitted by private colleges.

Most private engineering colleges have submitted their proposals to the fee regulatory committee headed by retired judge R Gururajan. The annual fees for government quota seats at private colleges is Rs 19,090 now.

According to information available with Express, no college has proposed fees of less than Rs 85,000 a year. The proposals go up to Rs 2.8 lakh. “Even colleges with lean admissions and poor infrastructure are seeking Rs 1 lakh,” said a source in the Higher Education Department.

R V College of Engineering has proposed Rs 2.83 lakh a year, the highest for any college so far. Next is Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, which wants to charge Rs 2.5 lakh a year. If the government accepts the proposals, all students in a college pay the same fee, and no difference exists between government seats and management seats. A college representative said, “We have submitted our cost details and proposed our fees accordingly.” Insiders see the proposals as signalling the beginning of negotiations between colleges and the government.” 

“If the committee has queries or doubts, they will call us for a discussion,” the management representative said.

The fee covers laboratory, transport and library. No other fee will be collected once this is approved, said another reputed college.

Annual Increase Also Coming

Fees for government colleges will be decided once the fees for private colleges are finalised. The new rates will be revised once in three years and the state government will fix a minimum increase every year.

An expert said the fees proposed were too high and irrational. “To run a college, considering all expenses, including salaries, the fee needed is between Rs 80,000 and Rs 1 lakh,” said the former principal of an engineering college in Bengaluru.

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