New Delhi: In a big boost to woo more foreign students and increase its global higher education footprint, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has slashed tuition fees for foreign nationals by up to 80%. With effect from this academic year, the new tuition structure offers a discount of 33% to 80%, depending on the student's area and the subject.
The largest gainers from this initiative are SAARC students, African students, and Latin American students — students that the university has identified as being under financial constraints while pursuing international education.
As per India Today reports, the tuition for students from African and Latin American countries taking humanities courses has been lowered from $1,500 to a mere $300 per semester — an 80% decrease. The cost of science classes has decreased from $1,900 to $400.
In the same way, SAARC students who enlist in the scientific stream will now pay $300 per semester, a 57% decrease from the former $700 price, while those in the humanities stream will now pay $200 instead of $700.
Students from West Asian countries will also benefit. As reported by India Today, the revised semester fee for them is $500 for humanities and $600 for science courses, marking a reduction of over 65%. International students now pay $1,000 for the humanities and $1,250 for science, instead of $1,500 and $1,900, respectively, for a semester. In addition to the lower tuition, all international students will be required to pay a one-time registration fee of $500.
JNU Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit said the initiative is part of the university’s broader effort to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which advocates for more inclusive and globally connected classrooms. “We studied the fee structures of international universities before arriving at these figures,” she said.
The move also comes at a time when JNU has witnessed a sharp drop in international enrolments. University data shows that while there were 152 foreign students on campus in 2020–21, that number dropped to just 51 in the 2023–24 academic year. The number of countries sending students to JNU also shrank from 14 to 8 over the same period. Many students had cited high tuition fees as a major barrier.
