Private medical colleges in TN double fees post NEET results

Chennai: After the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) released the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) results, the Private medical colleges and deemed universities in Tamil Nadu have doubled fees for the MBBS course. Studying at the premier medical institutes in South India will now cost close to Rs 2 crores, including Rs 1.85 crore as tuition fee and rupees 85 lakh as capitation fee.

Students and Parents’ reaction:

• Some private colleges have discreetly told parents that they will have to pay a capitation fee ranging from Rs forty to Rs eighty lakh.
• "I have to pay at least Rs one crore as tuition fee. The total cost may go up by another rupees 25 lakh," said Selva Ganapathy, a student who secured more than 90 percentile in NEET but missed a government medical college by 0.25 cut-off points. “The tuition fee there would have been rupeees 11,500 a year but he didn't make it because of 69 per cent caste-based reservation in Tamil Nadu,” he stated.
• According to a parent, seeking admission for his daughter, “I went to three private universities and was told that I will have to pay a capitation fee ranging from rupees forty to eighty-five lakh.” “I argued that it should be based on merit but the college administration said that was not specified in the Supreme Court order,” he said.

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What the Supreme Court said on NEET:

• According to the new rules by the Supreme Court, students aspiring for medical studies can independently apply to different colleges, but the admissions will be based on their rank in NEET.
• The SC has ruled that it is mandatory for all private medical colleges and deemed universities to give admissions to students solely on the basis of merit.

The State health department officials said that private colleges have autonomy and can decide their fees themselves.

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