Mumbai: The state govt is considering bringing autonomous colleges and private universities under the purview of Fee Regulatory Authority (FRA) following long-pending demands from students and parents. The higher and technical education department has directed FRA to examine the issue and submit a report on expanding the “scope of its work”.
The state has around 300 autonomous colleges, including nearly 160 for arts, science and commerce, where fees are fixed at the institutional level, and 34 private universities. Two more private universities, from the health sciences category, are set to join the list soon. With relatively less stringent regulatory norms, an increasing number of educational trusts are seeking private university status.
Sources in the state department said educational institutions should not indulge in profiteering, irrespective of the category they belong to.
FRA, which currently only regulates private and unaided professional colleges, reviews the expenditure on infrastructure and faculty before fixing the fees. An official said the state has no comprehensive record of the fees autonomous colleges and private universities charge in relation to infrastructure and quality of education.
At a meeting on Aug 4, higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil discussed issues related to FRA and ways to expand its scope. FRA has also been directed to formulate a procedure for calculating development fees as part of tuition fees. This could reduce the amount students pay as development fee across courses. The matter was tabled at an FRA meeting on Aug 18 but was not taken up.
While autonomous colleges are allowed to fix their own fees under UGC guidelines, they are required to comply with the norms of their affiliating universities. “State universities are not regulating these fees, and there have been complaints about expensive courses. We are studying whether regulation of these fees can be brought under FRA’s purview as many of the courses offered by these colleges are ‘professional’ in nature,” said an official.
Private universities are also allowed to fix their own fees, but under Maharashtra Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) Act, 2023, they are required to table their balance sheets in the state legislature. An official said these financial statements, however, are only tabled and are neither reviewed nor regulated. The state is, therefore, considering an amendment to the 2023 Act to bring private universities under FRA’s purview.
The state govt is also awaiting the reportof the Bhushan Patwardhan committee, which is reviewing the Act in its entirety, including provisions on fees. An amendment is likely to be introduced during the winter session of the state legislature.
