Private colleges in India are faced with strong criticism as placement rates collapse and costs continue to increase. According to the founder of Wisdom Hatch and Finfluence, Akshat Shrivastava, the average investment rate in private colleges increased from 60 to 80% in 2021-2222 to only 20 to 40% in 2023-24, which raises serious questions about the value of private education.
Shrivastava, writing on LinkedIn, alleged that “99% of private colleges in India are a scam”. Despite the drop in investment results, he said, these institutions continue to advertise the inflated “CTC” packages, hike their expenses and push more in-depth debt students.
“They create an ecosystem: where most teachers do not know how to teach, most students do not even want to go to university. And yet management continues to reduce money,” he said. While the global economy moves to rewarding results based on skills, Shrivastava warned that this traditional university model “has no place”.
His criticisms arise at a time when the cost of education in India has increased spectacularly. Between 1980 and 2020, average tuition fees, accommodation and other undergraduate expenses increased by 169%, according to the National Sample Survey Office.
The higher education courses increased by 5.8% and third -cycle prices costs increased by 13.19% between 2014 and 2018, while primary education costs increased by 30.7% in the same period.
States like the Maharashtra and Karnataka have experienced even higher hikes, with costs of private engineering and professional lessons increasing by 60 to 70% in the last decade. A private engineering diploma which cost 1 lakh per year in 2010 now costs 3 Lakh per year, reflecting a 200%leap.
Premium institutions have also experienced a sharp increase. The IITs doubled their annual costs B.Tech at 2 lakh in 2016, and a full B.Tech now costs 8 to 10 Lakh. An MBA at the IIMS costs 20 to 25 lakh, while the annual undergraduate costs of Ashoka University went from 8 Lakh in 2018 to 12.28 Lakh in 2024.
With the inflation of education taking place at 11 to 12% per year, families are under increasing financial pressure – extending their resources or debt to finance diplomas which are increasingly offering decreasing yields.
