Bengaluru: The Fee Regulatory Committee (FRC) recently wrote to the state govt to direct all colleges offering professional courses to submit their proposed fee structure to it. Following the direction, Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) has asked its colleges to do the same.As per FRC’s letter, colleges offering professional courses that come under the consensual agreement, and also those that do not come under such agreements, should submit their proposed fees. “Sometimes, many colleges claim that they are not part of the association that has signed the consensual agreement. It is important that colleges declare which association they are part of. Similarly, there are programmes that are not covered under professional courses that need to be added. It is better that the fees are fixed and displayed to ensure better transparency,” said Srinivasa Gowda, chairman of the committee.The fees should be calculated using costs directly related to educational operations, such as salaries and allowances for teaching and non-teaching staff, maintenance of infrastructure, laboratories and library resources, and depreciation as per applicable statutory rates. Costs unrelated to educational activities are excluded.Colleges have to attach audited financial statements, including income and expenditure statements, balance sheets, and other financial documents, along with relevant permissions, approvals, and university affiliation certificates.Even though FRC was constituted under the Karnataka Professional Education Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Determination of Fee) Act, 2006, to determine fees for professional courses, the govt signs an agreement with colleges every year, keeping the Act under abeyance. Back in 2018-19, the fee committee headed by Justice DV Shylendra Kumar determined fees for professional colleges. Yet, it was the consensual agreement that was implemented. This year too, a consensual agreement is being signed and a 7.5% hike has been announced for engineering seats in private colleges.
