The Supreme Court has Ruled that Colleges and Universities are not Businesses that Must Turn a Profit

Colleges and Universities are not Businesses

These comments were stated by a justices’ panel while upholding the Andhra Pradesh High Court’sjudgment to overturn the state government’s decision to increase the tuition for MBBS students.

The Andhra Pradesh Government’s decision to increase the cost to Rs 24 lakhs per annum, which is seven times higher than the charge imposed previously, is not at all justified, the Supreme Court said on Monday, noting that education is not a business to gain profit and tuition rates should always be reasonable. On Monday, a panel of judges led by MR Shah and Sudhanshu Dhulia upheld the Andhra Pradesh High Court’sjudgment to overturn the State Government’s decision to increase the tuition cost owed by MBBS students.

The Andhra Pradesh government increased the tuition costs for MBBS students by government order dated September 6, 2017.

The Government Order dated September 6, 2017, increasing the tuition fee for the block years 2017-2020, was quashed and set aside by the High Court, the court stated“We believe the High Court made no mistakes in doing so,” it said. The price increase to Rs 24 lakhs per year, which was seven times the previously agreed-upon sum, was completely unjustified. Education is not a means of earning money. The cost of tuition should always be reasonable, “The judge stated.

The court stated that fees must be established or reviewed within the confines of the fixation rules and must be directly related to the factors listed in Rule 4 of the Rules, 2006, which include the location of the professional institution, the nature of the professional course, the cost of available infrastructure, the cost of administration and maintenance, and A fair excess is essential for the expansion and development of the professional institution.

The court stated that while deciding or evaluating the tuition costs, the Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee (AFRC) must take these facts into account.

The court said that the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s directives to restore the number of tuition fees received in accordance with the Government Order dated September 6, 2017, did not include any errors. Given this, the court held that “the High Court is entirely correct in quashing and setting aside the Government Order of September 6, 2017.”The management cannot keep the money that was taken or collected in compliance with the unlawful government order issued on September 6, 2017. The court noted that medical colleges have used the money for a number of years and kept it with them some students paid the excessive tuition charge after taking a loan from financial institutions and banks and incurring a higher interest rate. According to the Government Order of September 6, 2017, after decreasing the amount payable in accordance with the prior ruling.

These remarks caused the highest court to reject the medical college’s appeals to the Andhra Pradesh High Court ruling.