Telangana High Court rejects fee hike plea by private engineering colleges

Hyderabad: Telangana High Court issued interim orders rejecting the plea by private engineering colleges seeking permission to hike tuition fees. The court directed the Fee Regulation Committee to finalise fee structures for engineering courses across the state within six weeks.

The order comes amid high demand for engineering seats, particularly in Computer Science and related branches, at top private colleges. Parents are reportedly willing to pay any amount to secure a seat in leading institutions. With limited seats available in sought-after colleges, managements have been exploiting the imbalance to demand exorbitant fees, particularly under the management quota.

Despite full occupancy in leading colleges, many institutions across the state continue to see low enrolment. Of the 175 private engineering colleges in Telangana, only about 15 to 20 are witnessing heavy demand. These institutions have been quoting fees ranging from ₹10 lakh to ₹20 lakh for Computer Science-related courses. Even second-tier colleges are reportedly charging ₹8 lakh to ₹12 lakh under the management quota.

According to official data, the state has approximately 1.18 lakh engineering seats, over 60% of which fall under Computer Science and allied streams. Last year, 1,07,160 seats were filled, with 79,224 under the convenor quota and 27,936 through management quota. However, high-ranking students are not guaranteed seats even after paying the fees, especially in top colleges.

While demand is mostly limited to Computer Science-related programs, the absence of proportional expansion in seat availability has allowed managements to turn the situation into a high-stakes market.