Mandatory fee disclosures of self-financing medical, dental colleges published

The Hindu

3 days ago

With the counselling for MBBS/BDS courses in progress in the State, the Selection Committee of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research has put out details of the mandatory fee disclosure by self-financing medical and dental institutions as per a direction of the Supreme Court.
Most of the colleges have disclosed the hostel and mess fees, but many have not put out the transportation fee.
The Selection Committee said the Supreme Court had directed 'mandate pre-counselling fee disclosure by all private/deemed universities, detailing tuition, hostel, caution deposit and miscellaneous charges'.
The institutions were also instructed to publish the fee structure on their websites.
In line with this, self-financing medical and dental colleges had furnished the details. While some institutions specified a month-wise fee for hostel and mess, others put up a figure for the entire year. Among self-financing medical colleges, the hostel fee alone ranged from ₹1,250 to ₹25,000 per month, and the mess fee from ₹7,400 to ₹22,500 per month. Some colleges gave a combined fee for hostel and mess charges.
In private universities, the hostel fee alone was ₹22,500 per month in two of the four institutions, while the rest put out a combined amount for hostel and mess fee, ranging from ₹2,15,000 (non-air conditioned shared accommodation) to ₹3,25,000 per year (single room with air conditioning facility).
Among dental colleges, the hostel fee ranged from ₹20,000 to ₹1,50,000 per year. Some institutions have disclosed the 'other' charges, including student kit, book and uniform fee, laundry fee, and caution deposit.
'Many colleges have not declared many components such as security deposit, university registration fees, book fees, and uniform fees. This seems to be more like a compliance document, rather than a genuine attempt to be transparent. It's not yet clear whether the colleges will collect the tuition fees for 4.5 years or five years. Neither the fee committee nor the colleges have made it clear,' Manickavel Arumugam, education counsellor, said.
In mid-July, the Selection Committee put out the revised fee structure for MBBS under government, management, and NRI quota in self-financing medical colleges and private universities for the academic year 2025-2026, as per the order of the Committee on Fixation of Fee in respect of self-financing professional colleges. This included tuition fee, admission fee, special fee, laboratory/computer/internet fee and library fee, and the institutions were directed to submit the details of the hostel, transport, and mess fees to the Selection Committee.