LAHORE: Days after the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) increased its tuition fee by 41 per cent, the university’s administration has clarified that the hike was decided before the Covid-19 outbreak in the country.
According to a statement issued by the office of Vice Chancellor Dr Arshad Ahmed, the increment was “entirely consistent with prior years and took into account extraordinary increases in inflation, energy costs and currency devaluation”.
According to reports, per credit hour fee has been increased by 13 per cent. Given that on average students opt for 16 credit hours per semester, this adds up to a 41 per cent overall increase in tuition fees.
“The increase […] was 13 per cent which we will monitor in determining the next fee card. Previously, a blanket fee was being charged for students registering between 12 to 20 credit hours. This fee is now [being] calculated on per credit hour basis which will increase the semester fees for some and decrease it for others [depending on the number of registered credit hours],” the statement said.
“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.
According to the statement, one of the reasons behind increasing the fee was 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,” it said.
