To Hike or Not To Hike

There are some arguments for which both sides weigh equally. In my opinion the question that ‘should the fees for higher education institutes like IITs and IIMs be hiked or not’ is one such question where the arguments for both increasing and not increasing have the equal weight and you have a difficulty deciding which side you should be on.

Those in favor of not increasing the fees are right as whatever economic progress that India has achieved in last couple of decades is primarily because of the investment in education and the availability of higher and quality education at extremely affordable prices. By increasing the fees, we are going to make the education unaffordable for a large section of society, which in turn would only contribute to the social divide that haunts us all the time. While there are education loans available, but for the affected sections getting those loans is next to impossible, and the ones who can afford probably do not need those small loans.

On the other hand, to make the institutions sustainable it is important to increase the fees. The amount of money spent on each student is far higher than the hikes fees also, so it seems perfectly fine to raise the fees, which after hike also remains the most economical education in the world. Another argument in favor of hiking the fees is that after passing out the first year salary of students is often more than their combined fees of the whole course, and the argument makes perfect sense. If the student earns all the wealth by virtue of being a student of the institute, should the institute not be adequately compensated too?

I agree to both these arguments completely, and I have been thinking of alternate or innovative ways to address both these two points of views. These are some of the ways I can think of:

1. Fees should be hiked, but with a facility for deferred payment, where a student can pay a larger chunk after he passes out and starts working.
2. Institutes can hold the formal degree till the student pays up completely.
3. Financial institutions can relax the rules for financing and actually use the economic status as criteria to fund students. I am told that banks do not fund as there are lot defaults by students. Institutes can provide guarantee to banks and financing agencies by way of keeping some hook with the students till they pay off the complete loans.
4. Students can be given an option to pay after they pass out, in which case they may be asked to pay even higher than the prescribed fees.
5. Organizations that pick up the students with loans can have the option to pay for the loan. This can either be treated as the joining bonus or can be deducted from the salary of the hired student.