No increase in fee, but students to pay back once they earn

In a first, graduating students from the Indian Institute of Management Ahemdabad (IIM-A) have decided to pledge Rs. 200 per month in favour of the institute from their salaries for one year.

Ashish Nanda, director, IIM-A, said, “For the first time, students of the outgoing batch of 2012-14 at IIM-A have pledged a monthly commitment of Rs 200. This is commendable because they are doing it even before they have received their first pay cheque.” The institute had a 2012-14 graduating batch size of 429 students for its flagship management programme, and 85 students in its postgraduate programme for executives and 10 for its fellow programme in management.

Similarly, in 2010, students from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) had initiated a fund-raising drive called ‘Give one for IIT-Bombay’ where every alumnus, part of voluntary movement pledged 1 percent of their salary every month. IIT-B planned to use the funds to meet various requirements which will include infrastructure, joining bonus for faculty, green initiative on the campus or benevolent fund for the faculty members and staff.

IIM-A has also mentioned that it will not going to make any changes in its flagship management programme for the next academic year. IIM-B has also decided not to increase the fee for the next academic year. Nanda said, “Even though costs are biting us, we are appreciative of what the students have to pay. So, we are not going to hike the fee.”

IIM-B director incharge Devanath Tirupati had said, “We consider three factors while determining the fees. Affordability for students and their parents is certainly important. We also need to consider inflation and our costs for delivering a quality programme. And we also keep in mind the salary package students are able to receive upon graduation as it is an indicator of their ability to repay loans and fulfil financial obligations incurred to pursue the programme.” IIM-B charges Rs. 17 lakh for its flagship management programme.