Revanth Plans to Grade Colleges for Fee Reimbursement

Hyderabad: The government is considering a proposal to grade colleges in order to streamline the release of fee reimbursement funds for students, official sources said on Friday. Colleges with top grades are likely to receive priority in the disbursement of funds under this system.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who holds the education portfolio, is learnt to have held discussions with education department officials on the matter.

Officials reportedly informed the Chief Minister that the government owed over Rs 7,000 crore in fee reimbursement arrears to private college managements, including professional institutions offering engineering, MBA, BEd., and pharmacy courses. These dues have accumulated since 2020 when the BRS was in power.

Recently, the managements of professional colleges joined hands and threatened to launch a joint agitation if the arrears were not cleared, even warning of an indefinite strike.

In response, the Chief Minister decided to clear the arrears in a phased manner and instructed officials to explore grading institutions based on several quality parameters. These include the quality of education, infrastructure availability, and compliance with AICTE/UGC norms on staff salaries.

Revanth Reddy reportedly directed that colleges be graded into four categories — A, B, C, and D — and that fee reimbursement dues should be cleared first for colleges in the A and B categories.

Following the Chief Minister’s directive, the department of higher education, in consultation with the Telangana Council of Higher Education (TGCHE), is considering appointing expert committees to evaluate and assign grades to colleges accordingly.

The Chief Minister recently rejected the fee hike recommendations of the Admissions and Fee Regulatory Committee (AFRC) for engineering courses for the block period of three years from 2025–26 to 2027–28. As a result, Eapcet counselling is being held under the existing fee structure, and the first round of seat allotments was completed on Friday.

However, some colleges have approached the High Court challenging the government’s decision to reject the AFRC’s recommendations. The matter is currently pending in court.