Director: Daniel C. Levy

Tuition Hike in Indian Private Medical Colleges

(Entry by Asha Gupta)

PROPHE Summary:
The present academic year in India has experienced chaos following fee hikes, public demonstrations and staying of admissions in private medical colleges. Following the Supreme Court judgment in October 2002, some private medical colleges in Mumbai had raised annual fees from about $2,500 to $7,500. In its judgement, the court had allowed financially independent private sector to run professional colleges, a right granted earlier only to minorities based upon religion or language. However, this judgment was interpreted differently by state governments, courts, colleges, students and their families. Banning capitation fees in its August 14, 2003 ruling, the court mandated a five-member committee to look into matters pertaining to admission process and fee structure in each state. The idea was to put a cap on 'profiteering'.

For the full story (shown with permission) see the Chronicle of Higher Education, September 26, 2003, "Tripling of Medical Tuition Draws Protests in Bombay," by Martha Ann Overland.
http://chronicle.com/free/v50/i05/05a05401.htm

PROPHE Observation:
The recent verdicts by the Supreme Court and prevailing confusion over the admission process and fee structure in private professional colleges point to India's struggle towards striving for a balance between equity and access to higher education. For a country with a population over billion, where only 7.2 percent of the youth age 17-24 have access to higher education and government support has been declining, it is natural for the private sector to grow rapidly. Whereas constitutional provisions aspire to equity and social justice, the realities in this vibrant fresh market economy favour those who can make huge investments into private higher education. It has led to pulls in opposite directions. As in much of the world, we find a lack of public trust in private delivery of higher education. For-profit private higher education is still a taboo.