LAHORE: The University of Engineering and Technology (UET) has increased tuition fee for all undergraduate programmes by 20 per cent for the upcoming academic year at its Lahore, Kala Shah Kaku, Rachna and Narowal campuses.

The increase in fee and other amenities was proposed during an Academic Council meeting held at the main campus last month.

According to documents available with Dawn, the UET increased tuition fee from Rs30,000 to Rs36,000 per semester, admission fee from Rs1,000 to Rs2,000, registration fee Rs500 to Rs1,000 and degree verification from Rs1,000 to Rs2,000. The university has also introduced charges on services that were earlier free, including Rs200 for registration of an email address and Rs500 for a student card.

University to also start charging for free services

The university’s magazine fee was increased from Rs37 to Rs150, medical Rs125 to Rs500, laboratory fee Rs600 to Rs1,200, sports fee Rs300 to Rs600, internet fee Rs900 to Rs1,800 and transport fee Rs1,500 was imposed on hostel students. The fee for playing tennis and squash was increased from Rs900 to Rs6,000.

The documents show that the university has also increased examination fee by 100pc, including semester exam fee from Rs500 to Rs1,000, semester subject registration fee from Rs200 per credit hour to Rs2,000.

The administration has also increased hostel charges, including cubical room fare from Rs900 to Rs2,000, dormitory from Rs600 to Rs1,000 and Rs200 has been added for using the ceiling fan. The university also canceled free hostel facility during summer semester and imposed charges of Rs6,000 for that.

A senior official of the university, on condition of anonymity, told Dawn that the fee and charges for various facilities were increased for new students after 10 years. The newcomers would have to pay the revised fee, not existing students. He claimed that the UET fee was still 50pc less than what other public sector institutions in the province were charging.

He also claimed that they were facing shortage of funds as the Higher Education Commission (HEC) had slashed budget by around 10.5pc per year. It was getting difficult to run the university affairs smoothly without increasing the fee in the wake of the current inflation and cut in HEC budget, he claimed.

Meanwhile, admission schedule for the 2019 undergraduate admission to UET Lahore and its sub-campuses has been issued.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2019