JNU slashes foreign student fees by up to 80% as it tries to recruit applicants

Jawaharlal Nehru University has cut international student fees by up to 80% with enrollments plummeting sharply. The fee structure will come into effect from this year and will largely hit students from SAARC countries who come to study in Delhi. The cut in tuition fees will be in the range of 33% to 80% and would vary according to courses as well as location.

The largest fee cuts have been offered to the SAARC nations, as well as to African and Latin American countries. It aims at minimizing financial burdens on those from the economically weaker segments.

Under the new system, SAARC students will only have to pay $200 for humanities courses and $300 for the science stream. Conversely, African countries as well as Latin American countries will see fees decrease by 80% to $400 to $300 for courses. West African students will, as has been reported, pay $500 for humanities courses and $600 for science courses. To the remaining students, fees have been cut to $1000 for humanities and $1250 for science.

All foreign students will also need to pay a one-time registration charge of $500.

What have been JNU fees until now?

The recent prospectus of the university had clearly mentioned that foreign students were to pay $1900 per semester as tuition fee for science courses and $1500 per semester for humanities and social sciences. This would comprise courses such as MTech, MPH, MA, MSc, MCA, BA(Hons), the BSc-M.Sc integrated programme as well as part-time programmes.

Meanwhile foreign students from SAARC countries will pay a significantly lower rate between $700 per term for science subjects and $600 for the others. Tibetan students, on the other hand, pay fees similar to Indian students.