Refund full fees to students who have withdrawn admission: UGC tells colleges, varsities

The UGC has directed all higher education institutes to refund full admission fees paid by first-year students who have withdrawn their application

The University Grants Commission, on December 21, instructed all colleges and universities to refund the full fees paid by first-year students who have withdrawn their admissions for the 2020-21 academic session.

The UGC direction came after it received complaints from lakhs of undergraduate and postgraduate students regarding admission fee refund, reported the Times of India. Most of the complaints reportedly came from students who had taken admission in private/ self-financing institutes.

The UGC notification read: “ln order to avoid financial hardship being faced by the parents due to lockdown and related factors, a full refund of fees be made on account of all cancellation of admissions/ migration of students, up to November 30, for this very session as a special case. The entire fees including all charges be refunded in totality (zero cancellation charges) on account of cancellation/ migration up to November 30.”

For students who withdraw their admissions after this period and up to December 31, varsities can deduct “not more than Rs 1,000 as processing fee”.

Any institution found to be violating the UGC guidelines and refusing to refund the full fees to students will be punished under clause 5 of the October 2008 UGC notification on refund of fees and non-retention of original certificate.