Coronavirus Impact: No Fee Hike at IIM Ahmedabad for 2020
The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM A) has decided to not hike the MBA fee for the 2020 academic session due to COVID-19. Usually, every year, there is a fee hike of 2-3 per cent.
Some of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have decided to not revise the MBA fee for 2020 due to the COVID-19 situation. Every year, the IIMs revise the fee for MBA by 2-3%. IIM Ahmedabad will not be revising the fee for the upcoming batches due to the prevailing situation, according to the institute spokesperson. However, IIM Bangalore has hiked its fee from Rs.21 lakh to Rs.23 lakh and that has made IIM B at par with IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta with all three charging Rs.23 lakh as tuition fee for MBA.
IIM Lucknow has hiked its fee by Rs 5 lakh and with that, the flagship course at IIM Lucknow costs Rs.19 lakh. IIM Lucknow ranks at number four now among India B-schools as per the NIRF ranking 2020 for MBA. IIM Rohtak, one among the newer IIMs, has increased its fee from Rs 13.8 lakh to Rs 15.2 lakh for the 2020-22 academic session.
Some of the IIMs which are not planning to increase the fee are reluctant to offer a fee waiver which has been demanded by a lot of students. IIM Udaipur Director, Janat Shah mentions that since the online classes have already begun in May, a fee waiver is not feasible as institutes have to bear the operational cost of the campus. Students are likely to return to the campus and face-to-face classes will resume as soon as the MHRD guidelines regarding the same are received.
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IIM Indore Director, Himanshu Rai is of the same opinion that the operational costs of the campuses have to be borne and the costs haven't gone down due to the lockdown. The primary costs are are payments for the staff members and faculty. For the smooth functioning of the online education system. the IIMs have done a good amount of investment in developing sound IT infrastructure which includes buying online proctoring software for remote evaluation, buying a webcam, or moving toward Learning Management Systems (LMS).
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He further said that it is not possible that the classes will be held online for the entire year as campus experience plays a vital role in the personality development of the student and helps them network. Majority of the institutes are planning to resume the campus operations for the second year MBA students by mid-July and for the new batches by mid-August.