To BE or not to be: Engg colleges hike fees

MUMBAI: After the supreme court last year allowed colleges across the country to fix their own fee structures, the cost of the much sought after BE (Bachelor of Engineering) course has almost tripled. While an ordinary engineering student paid an annual fee of Rs 15,000 until last year, the figure has now rocketed to Rs 50,000 a n d above.
The Direc -torate of Technical Education started issuing engineering admission forms on Monday.When this reporter called up various engineering colleges (there are 40 in the city) posing as a prospective student and inquired about the fees, they unhesitatingly disclosed their revised fee structures, which are still to be approved by the state governmentappointed regulatory authority.
The apex court order of October 2002 permits institutes to set their own fee structures provided they are approved by a regulatory authority.
It also permits colleges to reserve 15 per cent of the seats as the ‘management quota’, thereby permitting a premium for these seats.
Most of the colleges contacted by this correspondent said they were confident that their proposed fee structures would be approved by the recently appointed Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority.
At K.J. Somaiya College of Engineering, Vidyavihar, students will need to pay an annual fee of Rs 50,000 for a merit seat and Rs 1.5 lakhs for admission through the management quota.D.J. Sanghvi College,Vile Parle, is charging Rs 52,000 for a merit seat and Rs 2 lakhs for a management seat.
At Thadomal Shahani College of Engineering, Bandra (west), an aspiring engineering student will need to pay Rs 42,000 for a merit seat and Rs 1.22 lakhs for a management seat.Thakur Engineering College, Kandivli, is charging Rs 62,000 for a merit seat.
Thadomal Shahani College of Engineering''s principal Kranti Kumar justified the increase in engineering fees. "This is what it costs to educate a single student," he said. SIES engineering college principal P.V.
Parmeshwaran said, "Quality education does come at a price."
In light of the massive fee hike, some of the city''s colleges are offering discounts to lure students. The Dattameghi College of Engineering, Airoli, is offering a 40 per cent discount to "deserving students". Another college has announced a fee waiver for bright students.
"This marketing of seats is unfair," said a college trustee. "The objective seems to be to fill up their seats, not to provide quality education."