IITs propose three-fold rise in fee, new aptitude test

The Standing Committee of IIT Council (SCIC), the apex decision-making body for the Indian Institutes of Technology, has recommended a three-fold hike in tuition fee for BTech students, from Rs90,000 to Rs3 lakh a year, from the academic session beginning this summer.

The SCIC also suggested an aptitude test from next year, on the lines of SAT in America, to screen students before they take a single Joint Entrance Examination for admission to the IITs and the National Institutes of Technology (NITs).

The new entrance examination is proposed to be conducted by the National Authority of Test (NAT) is to be held from 2017.

It's now for human resource development minister Smriti Irani, who is the chairperson of the IIT Council, to take the final call, the apex decision-making body for these premier technology institutes.

The IIT Council's standing committee, which met in New Delhi under IIT Roorkee chairperson Ashok Misra, approved the fee increase.

The fee hike proposal is part of a plan to change the institutes' funding pattern and enable them to achieve financial autonomy.

However, about 25 per cent students, including the 15 per cent from scheduled caste, 7.5 per cent from scheduled tribe and three per cent physically challenged students, would continue to be exempt from the fee hike.

The remaining 75 per cent will have the option of interest-free education loans, available under the recently started Vidya Laxmi scheme, a member of the council said.

But with 15 per cent of the 10,000 students admitted to the IITs every year coming from families with a income below Rs1 lakh, the three-fold hike in fee would be a clear deterrent for many IIT aspirants.

Irani might not take a decision immediately as five states and union territories are due to face Assembly elections in the next two months.