CHENNAI: Deemed universities, including those offering engineering and medical courses, can no longer jack up fees or prescribe fees on their own. The University Grants Commission Institutions Deemed to be Universities ) Regulations, 2019, released on Wednesday say no deemed university can collect fee more than what has been prescribed by the committee constituted as per the new regulations.For a long time, students, parents and activists have been urging the state, Centre and other government agencies to ensure deemed medical universities don’t arbitrarily fix and increase tuition fees. Now, states are mandated to set up UGC mentioned fee-fixation committees . Two years ago, the Supreme Court permitted deemed universities to retain their present fee structure until fee fixation committees come out with a new one.On an average, the annual fee for engineering course in a deemed university is Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh, and for an MBBS seat, it is Rs 23 lakh. The latest regulation reiterates the ban on capitation fee under any name. In a relief for students opting out of courses, the new rules also bar universities from retaining original certificates of candidates.They should, after verifying originals, retain only copies attested by candidates for their records.The Directorate General of Health Services allots seats under the all India quota in government colleges and deemed universities, but by the time seats are allloted, many join engineering colleges and say universities harass them before returning originals.The UGC has also tightened rules for those seeking deemed university status. First, no new institution can apply for such status. New rules mandate 20 years of existence, National Assessment and Accreditation Council tag with a continuous grade point average of at least 3.26 for three consecutive cycles. For technical institutions, two-thirds of the eligible programmes should have National Board of Accreditation nod. They must also figure among the top 50 ranks in any specific category or top 100 of overall National Institute Ranking Framework list. The rules say deemed universities have to be unitary in nature but cannot affiliate constituent institutions.Category I and II deemed universities or those ranked 1-50 among “universities” on current NIRF list can start new off-campus centres. UGC promises to monitor number of students getting jobs, the number pursuing high education, research papers published by varsity, level of credit based applications and compulsory NIRF participation.

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