- 15 Jan, 2024
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Are Australian universities setting campus in India charging more for same courses?
After the government’s nod, as of now, two Australian universities – the University of Wollongong and Deakin University – have confirmed and started the process of setting up their campuses in India.
Deakin University has recently announced applications for the Master of Business Analytics and Master of Cyber Security (Professional) programmes, which will begin in July 2024. For this course, students will have to pay an annual fee of about AUD 19,000 (Rs 10 lakh). The varsity will also offer postgraduate courses in Cybersecurity and Business Analytics.
On the other hand, the University of Wollongong India will offer a Graduate Certificate in Computing and Master of Computing (Data Analytics), followed by further undergraduate programmes in 2025. Student fees will be set at 50 per cent of those incurred by international students studying at UOW’s Australian campuses. Students are usually asked to pay around AUD 18,000 (Rs 9.9 lakh).
To draw a comparison, in India, the fee for an MBA from one of the top management colleges of India, the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIM-B) costs nearly Rs 24.50 lakh (for two years). This fees covers tuition, library, internet, case permission royalty, course material, hostel room rent, service charge, medical insurance, personal accident insurance and alumni activity. However, it excludes Service Tax and any other tax. Such taxes, if made applicable by law, will be collected from students at the prescribed rates. Additionally, students will have to pay mess advance of Rs 30,000 each term.
In IIM Ranchi, the fee for MBA, MBA-HR and MBA-BA programme for the batch 2023-25 will be Rs 17.2 lakh (excluding caution deposit, alumni fee and mess expense). Similarly, at IIM Calcutta, the fee for a similar PG course – Post Graduate Diploma In Business Analytics – is Rs 25 lakh. This does not include caution money, food- related expenses, lodging and any travel expenses that the students may incur in the fourth semester when they visit any industrial location.
While these are government colleges, even the Indian private business schools don’t cost as much as these international campuses. The Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur which ranked at ninth position in NIRF Management rankings 2023 charges nearly Rs 9.90 lakh for the first year of MBA-BM course, and Rs 9.40 lakh for the second year.
The perks of paying more in the Indian campuses of these Australian universities, however, is that there will be opportunities for students to study a semester at the main Wollongong campus or other UOW offshore campuses in Dubai, Hong Kong, or Malaysia.
A similar trend will be followed for Deakin University. “All of the programmes can be delivered in India, but because the programme is delivered with an identical curriculum and a teaching period structure that is the same as we offer in Australia, it means that should they wish to spend one of those three teaching periods in Australia they could absolutely do that. We don’t anticipate that many will want to do that, because I think if you wanted to come to Australia, you’d probably be coming to Australia, but the option is there, and it’s lined up to be able to do that,” said Prof lain Martin, Vice Chancellor of Deakin University.