VJTI increases MTech, PhD course fees by up to 250% for new students

MUMBAI: Fees for post-graduate courses at Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) in Matunga went up by almost 250% this year. The fees for first-year MTech jumped to Rs 83,734 from last year’s Rs 23,665 and for PhD students, the hike was from Rs 26,092 in 2016 to Rs 83,954 this year. While the institute did not increase fees for last 10 years, the massive jump has raised a few eyebrows.
A student of the college said it is an autonomous government institute and the lower fees attracted many meritorious students.“While a gradual increase in fees is expected every year, this jump is unfair to prospective students. The decision is arbitrary and it should be rolled back,” said the student. The hike is applicable to students seeking admissions this year, and not to current students.
The director of the institute, Dhiren Patel, who took charge last month, said the decision was taken by the institute’s board of governors in February. “Post-graduate courses are not supported by the government since a decade. Though I was not part of the decision-making process, a fee hike was essential to make these courses self-sustainable. Despite being a premier institute, the fees was nowhere close to what other premier institutes charge,” said Patel.
While each MTech class has around 20 students who paid fees of Rs 25,000 annually, it is difficult to pay Rs 1.5 lakh monthly to each of the two teachers who are responsible to run the programme. The president of NCP’s students’ wing, Amol Matele, met the director on Tuesday and sought a rollback in a week. The director said he would request the institute’s BoG to revisit the decision.