The fees, which include students’ hostel charges, take the total cost of the coveted degree to over Rs 1.35 crore. The institute also charges an additional one-time university fee of Rs 2.8 lakh, which must be paid at the time of admission.
D Y Patil is not the only deemed college in the country to charge exorbitant fees for the 4.5-year degree. In fact, a large majority of deemed colleges that charge over Rs 25 lakh a year come from Tamil Nadu. The fees at Chennai’s Sri Ramachandra Medical College stand at Rs 28.1 lakh. SRM Medical College, again from Chennai, comes a close second in Tamil Nadu with Rs 27.2 lakh fees a year.
While the charges mentioned include the annual tuition and hostel fees, some of the colleges also levy additional charges during admissions under various heads.
8 TN med colleges charge Rs 25L+ a year, north cheaper
Mumbai: Three colleges in Maharashtra are among the Top 5 most expensive deemed medical colleges in the country, charging more than Rs 25 lakh a year. Along with tuition and hostel fees, some medical colleges levy other charges such as university fee, refundable deposits and caution money, running into a couple of lakhs. At a few places, enrolling for hostel facilities is mandatory. In some colleges, annual tuition fees stay constant for the whole course and at others they increase by 2-3% every year, taking into account inflation.
On the contrary, a medical degree in a government college in Maharashtra costs Rs 1.3 lakh per annum for students. In private colleges, where the fees are regulated by the Fee Regulating Authority (FRA), they vary from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 16 lakh per annum, excluding accommodation and charges such as deposits. In several states, government college fees do not exceed Rs 50,000 a year.
In February last year, the National Medical Commission (NMC) had issued a gazette suggesting that the fees of 50% of seats in private and deemed colleges be brought on a par with those charged by government colleges in the respective states. The gazette is still to be implemented.
After D Y Patil College, Navi Mumbai, and its sister campus in Pune that charges Rs 29.6 lakh a year, Pune’s Bhartiya Vidyapeeth Medical College is the costliest in the state charging Rs 26.8 lakh annual fees. At least eight colleges in Tamil Nadu, mainly in Chennai, charge Rs 25 lakh and above annually. Fee data from college and admission portals show deemed universities in Delhi and other northern regions are comparatively cheaper, with the exception of Santosh Medical College in Ghaziabad where the fees, including hostel charges, come to Rs 26 lakh.
Parents, though, say fees in deemed and private colleges are highly unaffordable for families of most aspirants. The fees started going up after NEET was reintroduced in 2016 and after the counselling process was centralised, parent representative Sudha Shenoy said, adding the government has not ensured implementation of the fee gazette issued last year. She said in most of Maharashtra’s deemed colleges, fees are upwards of Rs 20 lakh, and increase annually.
“The government spends around Rs 1 crore for the complete course of one student. With no subsidy and world-class facilities, the fees in deemed colleges are bound to be similar. The hospital attached to the college runs free medical services in specialty and super-specialty areas for a set number of patients. These expenses are also borne by the colleges,” said a Sri Ramachandra Medical College official, adding fees of deemed colleges in any given region (Chennai, in this case) are usually in the same range.
A D Y Patil University official said, “The teaching, library facilities, our simulation laboratories, and the world-class infrastructure, all of them require a lot of investment. Our AC hostels are also equipped with 24/7 WiFi facilities. Our hostel fees are similar to what other private and deemed universities in Navi Mumbai charge.” He said the college spends Rs 3-4 crore a month for subsidised treatment at hospitals.
