While the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have been consistently increasing tuition fees for the two-year post graduate programmes (PGPs), they have simultaneously attempted to lower the financial burden for deserving students by increasing the disbursal of need-based scholarships.
Consider this. Around 70 students of a total of 700 availed of the need-based scholarship scheme at IIM Calcutta (IIM-C) during the 2009-10 academic year, according to Prashant Mishra, chairman, PGP, IIM-C. “We plan to increase the scholarship disbursal amount if there is a need,” adds Mishra.
Unlike income-based tuition-fee waivers, where the total family income is taken into account, need-based scholarships are given to students if the IIMs believe that a deserving student has not managed to secure an adequate loan amount to cover his studies.
From 2004-05 to 2007-08, the size of financial aid each year at IIM-C was about Rs 20 lakh, but went up to Rs 1.8 crore in 2009-10. “Financial aid allows such students to go for higher studies or start their own ventures where remuneration might not be good. So they do not need to worry about furnishing a loan,” reasons Mishra.
IIMs also have the income-linked tuition fee waivers. To avail of the scheme at IIM-C, students should have less than Rs 4 lakh annual family income. Also, if a students’ family income is less than Rs 1 lakh per annum, a 100 per cent fee waiver can be granted to a student, depending on the disbursal budget of the institute and the number of students who have applied for it.
The IIMs also provide scholarships to poor students which amounts to a full tuition fee waiver. While IIMs would continue to provide fee waiver to students based on family income, the fee waiver this year will be decided based the income distribution of the class. For instance, in the financial year 2009-10, a total of 41 students were educated at IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A)absolutely free.
At IIM-A, while the need-based scholarship scheme has been around for a while, the institute introduced the income-linked tuition fee waiver scheme from the year 2008-09. A spokesperson for IIM-A informed, a total of 14 students availed the need-based scholarship scheme and 267 students availed the income-linked tuition fee waiver scheme in the academic year 2009-10.
The total family income of the student must be less than or equal to Rs 200,000 to be eligible for the need-based scholarship scheme at IIM-A. To be eligible for the income-linked tuition fee waiver scheme the total family income should not be more than Rs 600,000.
At IIM Lucknow, around Rs 70 lakh was disbursed to students under the need-based scholarship programme for the academic year 2009. “This is around three times higher the disbursal we had last year,” says Devi Singh, director of IIM Lucknow. “We will increase the scholarship disbursal budget if there are more students applying for it and then qualifying,” he adds.
Likewise, IIM Kozhikode has increased its allocation from Rs 1.06 crore for the 2010 batch to Rs 1.21 crore for the 2011 batch. Debashis Chatterjee, director, IIM-K, says: “The scholarships are both merit-based and need-based. Our aim is to increase disbursals so that management education can become affordable to as many as possible.”
Students expect better infrastructure
The Indian Institutes of Management’s (IIM) new fee structure may have left the desirable post graduate programme in management (PGP-M) expensive, but aspiring MBAs in the country do not appear to be complaining. A hike in the fees would mean better facilities for students, they reason. They also believe that placements would take care of the fee hike.
“The IIMs need the money to upgrade the infrastructure that will be used by the students and to retain faculty. Besides, a hike would not matter much to me as I would avail of a loan at the end of the day. And if the job pays back then there is no problem at all,” says Reema Ghosh Roy, an IIM aspirant.
Ankit Srivastava, one of the toppers of the common admission test (CAT), concurs that the move by IIMs is justified. He will appear for interview calls from IIM Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Kozhikode and Indore. “The primary reason is that the IIMs offer a great platform for any individual for economic and financial stability in the society. They provide the best in class facilities and are also developing the infrastructure now. Besides, there is a provision for the lower-income bracket in the form of a full scholarship and tuition fee waiver,” says Srivastava.
“The IIMs are increasing the seat capacity this year which needs an expansion of infrastructure facility. I think it is justified if the IIMs extend their fee waiver scheme, which would take care of the fees for the lower income group,” corroborates Kiran Kanchana, an aspirant who has received call by many IIMs.
