Bengaluru’s RV College of Engineering is once again in the news for offering management quota seats in Computer Science Engineering to students for a whopping Rs 64 lakh. This amount is said to be the highest ever charged for an engineering seat in the state, raising eyebrows and sparking debates on the fairness of such practices.
Last year, the same college had charged a similar amount for management quota seats in Information Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Cyber Security, causing uproar among students and parents alike. This year, while the fee for Computer Science Engineering has gone up to Rs 64 lakh, the fee for other courses remains at Rs 50 lakh, up from Rs 46 lakh last year.
The demand for engineering seats in Bengaluru’s top colleges is always high, and this has given rise to the practice of management quota admissions, where seats are reserved for students who are willing to pay a premium fee. While this practice is not illegal, it has been criticized for favoring the wealthy and denying opportunities to students from less privileged backgrounds. The first-come-first-served admission policy further adds to the pressure on students and their families, who often resort to borrowing or selling assets to secure a seat.
The high fees for engineering seats in Bengaluru are not limited to RV College of Engineering alone. People’s Education Society University (PES) is another institution that is known for charging exorbitant amounts for management quota seats. This year, the university is charging Rs 11 lakh for computer science under management quota, which is an increase of Rs 1 lakh from the previous year. Students opting for this quota will now have to pay a total of Rs 44 lakh for the entire course. The annual fees for electronics under the same quota range between Rs 6-7 lakh, according to university officials who spoke to TOI. These steep fees have once again highlighted the issue of access to education for all, especially for those from economically weaker sections of society.
Bengaluru’s BMS College of Engineering is also among the list of colleges that are charging high fees for management quota seats. The college is charging Rs 10 lakh for computer science engineering, which is the same as last year. However, other computer science-adjacent courses like information science and engineering, artificial intelligence and machine learning, data science, and CSE are being offered at a slightly lower fee of Rs 7.5 lakh per year. The high cost of engineering education in these prestigious colleges has been a matter of concern for students and parents, who are worried about the financial burden it places on them. This has also led to a debate on whether such a high cost of education is justified and whether it is denying opportunities to deserving students from economically weaker sections.
To be eligible for the management quota seats in these colleges, students need to have secured an average of 60% or above in their PU/class 12 exams in subjects like physics, maths, and chemistry/computer science/electronics. While these high fees are common in some of the top engineering colleges in Bengaluru, there are many other colleges where the annual fees for the same subjects range between Rs 2 lakh to Rs 4 lakh. These colleges are also known for offering quality education and have a good track record of placement opportunities for their students. However, the allure of studying in a prestigious institution often leads to students and parents opting for management quota seats, even if it means shelling out a substantial amount of money. This has once again brought to the forefront the debate on whether the cost of education is becoming unaffordable for the common man.
“It is a herd mentality. People are obsessed with getting a degree in computer science. Parents think a child’s future is secure with a CS seat and are willing to pay such huge amounts. There is buying power even in rural areas now, with the real estate boom,” Ali Khwaja, founder-director of Banjara Academy, told TOI.
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