A major debate has erupted in Madhya Pradesh over the escalating cost of professional education after it came to light that the Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee finalized fee structures for as many as 1,437 institutions in just 14 meetings during 2025. In a single sitting on May 20, 2025, the committee approved fees for 370 institutions. Similarly, 293 institutions were cleared on June 17, 244 on June 15, 224 on June 9, and another 178 on December 10.

These statistics were shared by Higher Education Minister Inder Singh Parmar in a written response to MLA Pratap Grewal, sparking a fresh political and public discussion around transparency and fairness in fee determination.

At the centre of the issue is medical education, especially MBBS, where the fee figures have drawn sharp attention. For 2025-26, the minimum annual MBBS fee is Rs 9 lakh, while the maximum stands at Rs 12.60 lakh. Over a five-year period, this translates to more than Rs 60 lakh purely in tuition fees, excluding hostel accommodation, study materials, equipment, and other associated costs. For thousands of aspirants who qualify in competitive exams like NEET after years of preparation, financial viability now appears to be a greater obstacle than academic competition.

The increase is not confined to MBBS alone. Ayurvedic medical programmes have also entered the “lakhs category.” MD (Ayurvedic) Non-Clinical courses now have annual fees starting from approximately Rs 1.91 lakh and going up to Rs 6 lakh. BAMS programmes range between Rs 2.20 lakh and Rs 6 lakh per year. Dentistry shows a comparable trend, with BDS fees ranging from Rs 2.60 lakh to Rs 6 lakh annually. In effect, pursuing a career in modern or traditional medicine now demands an investment similar to purchasing urban property in certain cities.

When analysed over time, the trend becomes more striking. From 2017-18 to 2025-26, minimum course fees increased by 8% to 13%, but maximum fees surged between 80% and 120%. In multiple instances, particularly MBA and BE courses, the maximum fee for 2025-26 is over 20% higher than that of 2024-25.

For MBA courses, the minimum fee is Rs 40,000, while the maximum reaches Rs 1.90 lakh. For BE and similar engineering programmes, the minimum fee is around Rs 42,000, with the maximum going up to Rs 1.44 lakh. Law programmes display a similar variation: LLB courses begin at Rs 23,000 and can extend to Rs 98,000, whereas LLM programmes range from Rs 25,000 to Rs 82,500.

Teacher education has also recorded consistent increases. BEd fees, which were Rs 82,000 in 2017-18, rose to over Rs 1.09 lakh in 2020-21 and surpassed Rs 1.19 lakh in 2024-25. Physiotherapy programmes such as MPT and BPT have annual fees ranging from Rs 42,000 to Rs 1.44 lakh and Rs 40,000 to Rs 1.90 lakh, respectively. Across disciplines—medicine, management, engineering, law, and teacher training—professional education fees have firmly entered the lakhs range.

Minister Parmar defended the differences in fee structures, explaining that each institution’s income and expenditure details are considered while determining fees. He stated that salary expenses, including payments to faculty and staff, form a major part of the calculation and can naturally lead to higher fee approvals in certain institutions. Despite this clarification, concerns remain.

MLA Pratap Grewal questioned how the same course can have fees varying four to five times between institutions when faculty qualifications, pay standards, and course norms are governed by central and state authorities. He highlighted that meeting minutes of the committee mention only the names of institutions and the final approved fees, without specifying expenditure components or indicating whether on-site verification was conducted.

Grewal further alleged that the committee’s framework clearly prohibits charging students for development expenses, building construction, capital investments, or loan interest unrelated to education. According to him, physical verification of institutional expenses is required before approving any fee hike, yet there is no reference to such inspections in the documented proceedings.

Adding another dimension to the controversy, a note reportedly recorded during the May 20, 2025 meeting recommended collecting proof of TDS deductions from the Income Tax Department to confirm faculty salary payments, thereby preventing inflated salary claims. Grewal claimed that this safeguard was not followed in subsequent approvals covering more than 1,000 institutions.

In a serious allegation, Grewal stated that the committee’s current functioning is contributing to annual fee escalations amounting to Rs 400–500 crore.

For students and families throughout Madhya Pradesh, the issue is no longer theoretical. Qualifying in competitive examinations may secure admission, but enrolling increasingly depends on financial strength. As one aspiring medical student remarked, “We compete for rank, but the real struggle begins with paying the fees.”

With MBBS fees exceeding Rs 12.60 lakh per year and professional course costs continuing to rise, higher education in the state stands at a critical juncture—between access and affordability, between ambition and exclusion. The data is clear. The debate is far from over.