Hyderabad: Even though the EAPCET counselling is yet to begin, computer science engineering (CSE) seats in top colleges across Telangana under the management quota are selling like hot cakes.Depending on the popularity of colleges, a CSE seat is being sold for anywhere between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 20 lakh. While this amount is collected as a donation or one-time fee, students are still required to pay the prescribed tuition fee every academic year.“I paid 13 lakh as a donation to secure a seat for my son in BTech Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning course. Apart from donation, I also have to pay nearly Rs 2.5 lakh annually towards tuition and development fee,” said a parent, who reserved a seat for his son in one of the top colleges in the city. He added that he went ahead with the payment because his son would not get a seat in a good college through counselling based on his rank.Another parent, who was looking for a seat in a women’s college, said, “I was asked to pay Rs 11 lakh as a donation by one of the colleges on the city outskirts. We are exploring a few other options, but we are likely to pay the donation and reserve a seat, as we are keen on admitting our daughter to a women’s college only.”According to faculty, alongside CSE, there is a growing demand for AI/ML courses, with parents willing to shell out large sums for these course as well. “As AI is everywhere and has become a buzzword, many are enquiring about AI/ML seats as well. In fact, these seats are priced on par with CSE seats in many colleges,” said Srinivas Varma, a senior faculty member and a representative of the Telangana Schools Technical Colleges Employees Association (TSTCEA).Both college managements and faculty pointed out that donations have not seen a steep rise because of competition from private and deemed universities. “They are offering CSE seats for about Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh per year without any donation. As a result, even private colleges are forced to keep donation amounts in check,” said G Nagaiah from the engineering colleges managements association. He added that even above-average colleges are charging over Rs 10 lakh as a donation for CSE this year.This year, the Telangana Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee has to fix the fee for the next block period — three academic years. Many colleges are quoting higher fee based on their expectations while selling seats.
