Students of the National Law University, Delhi, have written to the institute's Vice-Chancellor seeking answers on the "unprecedented" fee hike introduced for the upcoming batch of students from 2023.
The fee hike was announced by the institute during the process of the All India Law Entrance Test (AILET) 2023, which is conducted by NLU Delhi. The annual fee for Indian nationals for the BA LLB course stood at Rupees 1,63,000, out of which Rs 85,000 was the tuition fee. As per the revised fee structure for the course, the tuition fee per annum is Rs 1,35,000, and the total fee amounts to Rs 3,65,000.
Students submit representation against fee hike
With the fee hence almost doubled, students have raised several concerns in their representation submitted to the university via email on December 24. This representation was signed by more than 200 students, constituting more than half the student body of the varsity. Primary among their concerns was the reason that called for the fee hike, given, as they state, NLU Delhi was one of the better-funded NLUs in India.
"NLU Delhi earns the most revenue out of any university from conducting entrance tests, while the revenue from CLAT is distributed among the rest of the 22 NLUs, NLU Delhi alone receives the revenue of AILET. We also received a capital grant from the Delhi Government for the construction of new hostels," the students wrote. This grant for new hostels was requested by the former Vice Chancellor of NLU Delhi, Prof Ranbir Singh after the strength for the BA LLB course was increased from 80 to 120 students, and the existing hostel space struggled to accommodate the students. However, the grant provided by the Delhi government fell short of the required amount, sources from the varsity told Edexlive.
The fee structure, as the current VC-in-charge Prof Harpreet Kaur told Bar and Bench, was last revised in 2013-14. The students admit that there has been a rise in variable costs since that time. The increase in the minimum wage for skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers in Delhi, effective from October this year might also have contributed to the increased expenses of the university, sources said.
However, with an increase in fees by almost 100%, students fear that NLU Delhi, a public institution might become unattainable for a large number of deserving aspirants. "This amount as a fee is prohibitively high for any public institution, especially a law school. Many of us who are studying here could not have joined NLU Delhi if this amount was asked from us as fees," said the representation submitted by the students.
The case of OBC and EWS students
The administration has also been asked if it has any accommodations in place for students from the Other Backward Classes and Economically Weaker Section categories, whose annual income is capped at Rs 8 lakh. "The new fee is a little less than half their annual family income. The various scholarship programmes available are of no help since most of them provide for an income cap of 2 to 4 lakhs, beyond which the candidate becomes ineligible to avail of them. Therefore, such students are left with no support and will not be able to study at NLU Delhi," said the students.
Another concern raised by the representation is the threat of a fee hike being imposed on the current batch of students as well. They point out that a similar hike for the existing students would wreak havoc with their financial planning, and impose severe constraints on their families. The students add that they might be forced to take student loans or drop out of their programmes altogether.
Rollback fee hike, students demand
The students have raised three major demands in their representation. They have asked the university to consult with appropriate authorities and consider revoking or reducing the fee hike. They have also demanded that students undergoing the AILET 2023 counselling process currently be given extensions to pay the fee. Lastly, they have prior intimation in case of a fee hike for the existing batches of students, and clarity on their fee plan for the upcoming years. The representation adds that any fee increase should not be more than 10% per year.
In reply to the email Vice-Chancellor Harpreet Kaur informed the students that a detailed response will be given within a week. Edexlive has reached out to the VC and the Registrar of the varsity for a statement on the issue, and this article will be updated accordingly.
Access to Law education in peril?
The fee hike further raises concerns about accessibility to law education in the country. In fact, up until the recent hike, NLU Delhi was the cheapest public institution for law in terms of fees at Rs 1,63,000. Now, it is the most expensive NLU in the country, charting even higher than the National Law School of India University in Bengaluru, which trumped NLU Delhi to grab the top spot in the Law school list in the National Institute Rankings Framework (NIRF) 2022.
Shivangi Sharma, a law student from Ahmedabad told Edexlive, "Given that private universities are already only accessible to the privileged class, you'd expect National Law Universities to be accessible to everyone in terms of their fee. Some students take gap years to get into prestigious law colleges such as NLUD. When the administration increases the fee, it is grossly unfair to those who work hard. It is gradually becoming tougher even for the middle class to afford legal education in this country, the low-income earners will have no option but to pass on good opportunities even if they earned their seat at a reputed institution."
A blow to encouraging socially-conscious lawyers
Apart from the threat of the fee hike making education in Law at NLU Delhi inaccessible for a large group of students, there is also the possibility of more students gravitating towards careers in corporate law to pay off their education loans and debts, critics state. "If they take education loans, which may amount to Rs 17 or 18 lahks, taking up corporate jobs will be the only avenue left to make good the amount of money they have spent. They cannot undertake litigation, academia, social work or legal aid. These disciplines require existing financial power, and no debt to be pursued. The societal impact of such a hike is huge," a law student told Edexlive.
A student from NLU Delhi, on the condition of anonymity, spoke to Edexlive and said, "A huge fee is a constraint in what career we pick after we graduate. NLU wanted to create socially conscious lawyers, and bring material change in society, with people conscious of social issues. The most worrying trend recently in the institute, especially with the current administration, has been to orient law students towards becoming corporate lawyers instead of ensuring interdisciplinary education for socially-conscious lawyers. We have had a massive exodus of some of the best of our professors. Increasing fees and a decreasing standard of legal education seem to be the state of affairs in our university."
