Applying to colleges in Bengaluru becomes costly affair, ETEducation
Bengaluru: As admission season kicks off, applying to a college/university in Bengaluru is turning out to be an expensive proposition. With application forms in many colleges now hovering around Rs 1,000, students applying to multiple colleges to secure a seat are finding the costs quickly adding up.
One of the costliest application forms is from Christ deemed-to-be University, charged at Rs 1,800 for some programmes. Once the application is submitted online, it cannot be cancelled, and the application fee is non-refundable. Colleges said the fees cover the cost of conducting tests and interviews. “We conduct online tests for many programmes in different parts of the country. For this, we use a third-party platform. Similarly, our faculty travel to different cities for interviews. The fees cover the travel and stay of the faculty. The fees are less for programmes that do not have online tests and the platform is not used,” said Anil Pinto, registrar, Christ deemed to be University.
Other institutions cited similar reasons. St Josephs’ University, as per the website, charges Rs 1,000 for UG programmes and Rs 1,200 for PG and PG diploma programmes. “There are entrance exams for courses with high demand. The exams are conducted in various cities like Chennai, Kolkata, Ranchi, and Ernakulam. The application form fee covers this cost,” said Fr Victor Lobo, vice-chancellor, SJU.
“We calculate the final marks by using 50% of the entrance and 50% of the II PU marks. We find that students in some states do not have high class 12 marks, but do very well in entrances, and vice versa. So, entrance tests are important for us to get the best students from the pool. Programmes without entrance tests have lower application fees,” he said.
Fr Augustine George, vice-chancellor of Kristu Jayanti deemed-to-be university, said: “There was a marginal hike this time. The number of applications that we receive is so high that there is a full team of around 35 people who are scrutinising them. The fees cover all the backend work.” The website says the online application form for UG programmes is Rs 1,000.
But the burden is on the students. B Yogananda, president, coordination committee of Karnataka Private School College Parents’ Associations, said: “A student who has to apply to at least three colleges/universities to ensure a good seat coughs up around Rs 4,000-Rs 5,000. How can a parent afford this? The govt should step in to streamline this, so that students from all categories can afford applying to colleges.”
Apoorva CM, president, All India Democratic Students Organisation, Bengaluru District, added: “Many universities annually hike application fees too. We view it as a blatant attempt to further commercialise higher education. At a time when students from rural and economically weaker backgrounds are already struggling under the weight of rising semester and exam fees, this hike acts as a ‘gatekeeping’ tax that discourages the poor from even applying. By turning admission processes into a source of revenue, the universities are abdicating their responsibility to provide accessible, democratic education.
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