Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Aug 30: Mangalore University has announced a hike in fees for undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) courses ranging from 5 to 10 percent for the academic year 2025–26.

In the previous academic year too, admission fees for all subjects under the university were increased, which had drawn objections and protests from students. Despite this, the university has once again revised the fees upwards. The hike has received approval from the University Syndicate.

Fees fixed for the Tulu programme have now been made applicable to postgraduate Konkani, Sanskrit, and Hindi courses as well. Similarly, several other courses have also witnessed a rise in fees at varying levels.

According to the university, the increase was necessary due to rising expenses and shortage of permanent teaching staff. The Tulu department, for instance, has no permanent faculty and currently engages six guest lecturers on an hourly basis. The annual expenditure of this department amounts to about Rs 15 lac, whereas the revenue collected from students through fees is only Rs 2.24 lac. Since no government grant is provided, the university has to generate internal resources, making the fee hike unavoidable.

Officials pointed out that the lack of sufficient teaching staff across departments and increasing university expenses have forced this decision.

While the university cites financial constraints, student leaders have strongly opposed the move. “Every subject’s programme has undergone a fee revision. If Mangalore University increases fees like private universities, then what is the difference between them? Instead of placing the university’s financial burden on students, the government and the university must work together to find a solution,” they said.

For instance, the MA Tulu course in 2024–25 had a general fee of Rs 7,410 and a tuition fee of Rs 15,000, amounting to a total of Rs 22,410. For 2025–26, the general fee has been revised to Rs 7,610 and the tuition fee to Rs 16,000, bringing the total to Rs 23,610 — a 5 percent increase compared to last year.

“Mangalore University depends solely on internal resources. Expenditure keeps increasing every year. To manage the situation, a small revision of fees was necessary. Hence, the fees have been revised in a limited manner,” said Raju Mogaveera, registrar (administration), Mangalore University.