A storm is brewing over the rising cost of professional education in Madhya Pradesh after it was revealed that the Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee fixed fees for a staggering 1, 437 institutions in just 14 meetings in 2025. In fact, fees for 370 institutions were decided in a single meeting of May 20, 2025. Then, on June 17, 293 institutions were cleared, 244 on June 15, 224 on June 9, and finally, 178 more on December 10.
These figures were handed over to the legislator Pratap Grewal by Higher Education Minister Inder Singh Parmar in a written reply which is the reason for political as well as public debates on transparency and fairness.
Medical education, particularly MBBS, is the crux of the problem as the figures are very high. The least fee for MBBS for the year 2025, 26 has been fixed at Rs 9 lakh and the highest at Rs 12.60 lakh. Hence, the tuition alone for the five year course can be more than Rs 60 lakh, without counting hostel fees, books, equipment, and other expenses. For thousands of candidates who clear competitive exams like NEET after several years of hard work, the biggest challenge seems to be the availability of funds now.
The escalation does not end with MBBS. Ayurvedic medical education has also moved into the "lakhs bracket." MD (Ayurvedic) non clinical courses are running with a minimum fee of a yearly Rs 1.91 lakh. The upper limit can be as high as Rs 6 lakh. BAMS cursuses have an annual fee problem rate between Rs 2.20 lakh to Rs 6 lakh. The situation in Dentistry is pretty much similar, with BDS fees varying from Rs 2.60 lakh to Rs 6 lakh yearly. Effectively, the choice of profession as a doctor either in modern or traditional medicine is a capital requirement equivalent to some cities' urban real estate.
In fact, the jump is so high that its significance is hardly lost if looked at over time. While the lowest course fees had gone up by 8% to 13% between 2017, 18 and 2025, 26, the highest ones had shot up by 80% to 120%. The maximum fee in 2025, 26 for some courses, notably MBA and BE, is more than 20% higher compared with the fee in 2024, 25.
With MBA courses, a minimum fee of Rs 40, 000 and a highest point of Rs 1.90 lakh are recorded. In case of BE and other technical courses, the lowest figure is about Rs 42, 000 while the highest has attained Rs 1.44 lakh. Law courses also reveal similar disparities: LLB programmes can be found at Rs 23, 000 but the topside can be Rs 98, 000, on the other hand, LLM courses are between Rs 25, 000 and Rs 82, 500.
Teacher education has also seen a steady rise. BEd fees, which stood at Rs 82,000 in 2017-18, rose to over Rs 1.09 lakh in 2020-21 and crossed Rs 1.19 lakh in 2024-25. Physiotherapy courses such as MPT and BPT range from Rs 42,000 to Rs 1.44 lakh and Rs 40,000 to Rs 1.90 lakh, respectively. Across sectors, medicine, management, engineering, law, and teacher education, professional education now firmly sits in the lakhs bracket.
Minister Parmar defended the variation in fees, stating that each institution's income and expenditure statement forms the basis for calculation. According to him, salary expenditure, including faculty and staff payments, is a significant component and can naturally result in higher fee structures in certain institutions. However, the explanation has not silenced critics.
MLA Pratap Grewal questioned how fees for the same course can vary four to five times between institutions when faculty qualifications, pay norms, and course standards are regulated by central and state authorities. He pointed out that the committee's meeting minutes list only institution names and final approved fees, without detailing expenditure components or whether any physical verification was conducted.
Grewal further alleged that the committee's framework clearly states students should not be charged for development costs, building construction, capital investments, or loan interest unrelated to education. He claimed that before approving any hike, the committee or its representatives are required to physically verify institutional expenditures. However, according to him, there is no mention of such verification in the meeting records.
Adding to the controversy, a note reportedly recorded during the May 20, 2025 meeting suggested obtaining proof of TDS deducted by the Income Tax Department to verify faculty salaries, a safeguard against inflated salary claims. Grewal alleged that this measure was not implemented in subsequent approvals covering more than 1,000 institutions.
In a strong charge, Grewal claimed that the committee's functioning is enabling fee escalations amounting to Rs 400-500 crore annually.
For students and families across Madhya Pradesh, the debate is no longer abstract. Clearing competitive exams may open academic doors, but stepping inside increasingly demands financial capacity. As one medical aspirant said, "We fight for rank, but the real battle is with the fee receipt."
With MBBS crossing Rs 12.60 lakh per year and professional course fees steadily rising, higher education in the state stands at a crossroads between opportunity and affordability - between aspiration and exclusion. The numbers are out. The questions continue to grow.
