MUMBAI: After the Mumbai University announced an increase in its fee, an official said that the university did not hike the fees in its departments and affiliated colleges for 17 years.

“With the rising costs, it has become difficult for colleges to run their programmes on the existing fees. The govt does not give non-salary grants and the salary grants are only for teachers in the aided courses. Colleges have been finding it difficult to pay teachers in unaided courses. This was long pending, but we only prescribed marginal and reasonable hikes,” said the official, adding that the fees need not apply to autonomous colleges as their fees are fixed by their governing boards.The decision was taken in an academic council meeting held last year and was notified through multiple circulars from different faculties only this month, prior to the admission season. In 2012, too, a committee proposed a revision of fees, which was withdrawn after protests from students’ organisations.

From the academic year 2026-27, the fee will be increased by five per cent rounded to nearest 10 every year for self-financing courses. The foreign students will be charged five times of the total fees.A principal said that the university increased the fees of courses after several years. “However, this is just a token fee hike and has absolutely nothing to do with reality. Ideally, the university must review fees at least once in two or three years,” said the principal. The university fixed the fees for many new courses at the master’s level too. Fees in some of the MSc courses have been fixed at Rs 40,000. A principal said that these courses need laboratories and equipment, and colleges have to invest in the infrastructure. “The expenses have increased manifold. The hike is so nominal compared to the expenses. This is a difficult and sad scenario, but there is no non-salary grant, recruitment is not taking place, so people need to be hired on contract. We need to pay them. We are working at a sub-standard level. We cannot hire the best teachers, so student employment is as low as 10%. We are working at the lowest common denominator,” said another college principal.