LUMS increases its fee from this Semester
Lahore, 4th May: Despite the pandemic crisis across the country and the government’s orders to the schools to reduce their fees, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) announces to increase its semester fees by a massive 41%.
According to reports of Baaghi TV, LUMS has announced to increase its next semester fees by 41 percent without communicating it to the students.
As per sources, the university has manipulated the credit hours (CH) calculation to increase its fee by up to Rs 140,000. However, LUMS has a policy of charging the same fees to students opting for 12 CH or 20 CH, them to go for 16 CH on average.
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Reportedly, the management recently changed its policy, which according to them will only make a ‘minimal and negligible’ difference to the final fee.
The university said that it has increased the fee by 13% per credit hour due to inflation. However, the calculation shows the fee has been increased by 41.7 percent for the next semester.
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Here is a breakup and comparison of LUMS’ old credit hours vs. new:
The previous fee for 20 Credit Hours was Rs. 340,200, which divided by 20 equals to Rs. 17,010. With a 13 percent increment, it becomes Rs. 19,221.3 for each CH. Hence, the revised fee should be at Rs. 384,426 when multiplied by 20.
The new fee announced by the university comes to Rs. 482,000 for 20 Credit Hours. The university increased its fee in a way that will affect a majority of students while favoring few senior students.
The management of LUMS divided the total fee figure (Rs. 340,200) by 12, instead of 20, while being well aware that it has a majority of students enrolled in more than 16 credit hours or more on average.
This form of fee structure will only be beneficial to a few seniors who will be paying a fee for their 12 CH in their last semester.
LUMS students and the Alumni body have condemned such a hike in the fee structure of the university, claiming that the varsity is becoming out of reach for the local students.
LUMS fees for 2020 were determined before COVID-19 that is entirely consistent with prior years and took into account extraordinary increases in inflation, energy costs and currency devaluation. The increase determined for 2020 was 13% which we will monitor in determining the next fee card.
Furthermore, previously, a per semester blanket fee was being charged for students taking between 12 to 20 credit hours. This fee is now calculated on a per credit hour basis which will increase the semester fees for some and decrease it for others. The important point is that the total fee to meet graduation requirements does not change as a result of the shift to a per credit hour basis.
One of the reasons for the shift is to discourage students from taking course overloads which negatively impacts their learning. LUMS fees cover a fraction of the total costs. As a not-for-profit university, gifts from donors, trustees, etc. helps to subsidize one out of three students.
What irks them most is the unjustified surge in the fees at a time of global economic recession, when the international universities are considering a downward revision.
Stay tuned to Baaghi TV for more updates!
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