JNU doubles fee for International students, no exemption for Tibetan refugees

The latest circular says that on top of the new fee, the students have to pay the GST charges too. A science students will now spend more than Rs 3,000 a year on tution 
JNU
JNU

A few months after announcing a fee hike for the Indian students, the Jawaharlal Nehru University has now hiked the semester fee for International students by hundred per cent. According to the latest circular issued by the university, the International students studying science courses are to pay a semester fee of $1500. Until last year, the fee was $750. For the humanities students, the fee is hiked from $500 per semester to $1000 per semester. 

The incidental charge for the foreign nationals, which used to be $100 is now $200. On top of this, this year, the students have to pay the GST charges too, states the circular. 

The decision has created a lot of hue and cry among the JNU foreign student community. This has come as a shocker for the Tibetan students residing in India too, who are not exempted from the hike. Previously, the students from SAARC countries and Tibetans  had to pay only $100 per semester. "There are a lot of Tibetan students who got through the JNUEE this year, but have opted to not take the admissions owing to the fee hike," says a former Tibetan student who did not want to be named. He is currently helping fellow Tibetans with their admissions. "Most Tibetans and students from SAARC come from poor backgrounds. Even if we clear the entrance, we have to pay the same amount. Currently, this situation exists only in JNU. In Delhi University, Tibetans pay the same fee as Indian nationals," he adds. 

He also says that the atmosphere of JNU is changing rapidly, in a rather scary way. "We are seeing an authoritarian rule here. There is an atmosphere of fear. This wasn't how JNU was. It used to be a democratic place," he recalls. 

Another former Tibetan student also had something similar to share. After completing her course, she too is now helping the other students with their admission. While requesting anonymity, she observes that this year, 37 Tibetans cleared the entrance, but only four were able to pay the fee. "In our community, it is a big deal to get into a university like this. Only a handful get in every year, but now, even their effort has gone in vain," she says. "Tibetans can't afford this hike in fee. This came as a shocker for us. I also met a few Nepalese students, who also said the same," she adds.

We tried to contact the JNU International Students Advisor T V Vijay Kumar and the Director of Admissions Deepak Gaur for a comment on the same. While the former said that he had no information on the same, the latter said he was busy and could not respond. Emails sent to them also were not answered. This copy will be updated once we receive their comments. 

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