Other univs not to follow Khallikote, slash fees: VCs
Bhubaneswar: Universities in the state are unlikely to toe the Khallikote University, Berhampur, decision to reduce admission and course fees for PG students this year. Khallikote University has reduced the fee.
Vice-chancellors (VCs) of other universities told TOI that their admission fee is affordable. “There is no plan to slash the admission fees. Utkal University is a huge affiliating university and it has thousands of students. It is not feasible for us to reduce the admission fees,” said Utkal University vice-chancellor S M Patnaik.
The state has 12 state public universities along with Odisha State Open University (OSOU). “We charge an admission fee of Rs 5,000 per year for master degree courses, Rs 3,000 per annum for bachelor degree courses and Rs 2,000 for six-month certificate courses. It is very less compared to other open universities and public universities. Besides, we have to pay our employees and spend money on other educational needs. So we will not reduce the admission fee further,” said Srikant Mohapatra, vice-chancellor of OSOU.
Some VCs said the Khallikote University is offering less number of PG courses and admits less number of students compared to big universities like Utkal University, Sambalpur University and Berhampur University. “It was charging high amount of fees earlier from the students. Now they have reduced the fees to attract more students,” said a VC.
A senior higher education department official said the universities themselves take the decision regarding the fee structures of their courses. “The department does not interfere in their decision to reduce or increase the admission and course fees,” said the officer.