IIM Calcutta hikes fee by Rs 2 lakh
The Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta has decided to hike its fee for its flagshup two-year post graduate diploma course. Students who join the course in 2009 will each pay Rs 5 lakh more in tuition fees than those who graduate this year, reports Mou Chakraborty.
The Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C) has decided to hike its fee for its flagshup two-year post graduate diploma course. Students who join the course in 2009 will each pay Rs 5 lakh more in tuition fees than those who graduate this year.
The fee for students for the 2009-11 academic session has been set at Rs 9 lakh each, up from Rs 4 lakh for the 2007-09 batch. The 2008-10 batch will pay Rs 7 lakh each. They had paid Rs 3 lakh as the first year’s tuition fees, and will have to pay Rs 4 lakh for the second year.
All the other IIMs had increased their fees last year (see box). IIM Calcutta then decided to hike the fees of first year students by Rs 1 lakh, and wait for the report of the IIM review committee headed by R.C. Bhargava. But the institute’s Board of Governors went ahead with the hike on Thursday without considering the report.
“We are yet to accept the Bhargava committee report as it is still under discussion. Hence we have not considered it while taking the decision on fee hike,” Dinesh Verma, Chief Administrative Officer of IIM-C said.
One member of the Bhargava committee, Rediff chairman Ajit Balakrishnan, is also chairman of IIM-C’s Board.
Explaining why IIM-C decided to hike its tuition fee Verma said, “IIM-C spends Rs 4 lakh per student per year. Hence if keep the two years tuition fee to Rs 9 lakh then we will not have to subsidize. And even if the costs further go up we will still have some extra money as tuition fee…But still we are still cheaper than IIM-A and IIM-B.”
With the increase in tuition fee IIM-C has also decided to increase its fund for student scholarships. “Compared to Rs 75 lakh spent on scholarships last year, in the new academic session we will have Rs 1.5 crore for student scholarships. We have increased the money to ensure the fee hike doesn’t affect needy students,” said Verma.
Rohan Mahajan, a second year student, said, "After we pass out, we all get very good salaries. So, this fee hike is ok with us."