Indian branch campuses twice as costly as local universities

The Story in Brief

Rahul Choudaha, director of DrEducation Research, analysed tuition fees of the 14 international branch campuses now operating in India across 13 universities. He found the average annual undergraduate fee at these campuses is £10,140, about twice the fee at a Tier 1 private Indian university (£4,680) and roughly a third of the cost of studying at the institutions’ home campuses abroad (£28,080). The 13 universities include seven UK campuses offering 50 programmes and six Australian campuses (the University of Western Australia operates in two locations) offering 33 programmes.

The report shows variation by country and level: Australian undergraduate fees average £13,884, 16% higher than UK undergraduate fees at £9,516, while postgraduate fees are higher at UK campuses (£13,884) than Australian ones (£13,182). UK undergraduate fees range from £5,850 to £11,700. Estimated annual intake for 2026-27 is 2,730 students, though Choudaha expects actual enrolment to be no more than 1,500. Campuses are concentrated in Mumbai (five), Bengaluru (three), GIFT City (three), Delhi NCR (two) and Chennai (one); Pune and Hyderabad were identified as potential markets, with Hyderabad currently having no campus.

The Indian Opinion

The numerical comparison in the report is useful but the headline claim that branch campuses are “twice as costly” or “a third of the cost” of studying abroad compresses important variation into averages. Fees vary markedly by campus, level and provider, and the UK-Australia comparisons reverse between undergraduate and postgraduate study. The forecast that actual enrolment will be about half the estimated intake is an expert judgement rather than a demonstrated outcome and depends on factors not detailed in the report, such as scholarships, faculty availability and job outcomes.

An ordinary Indian reader would reasonably ask for more transparent data on living costs, scholarships, placement records and faculty before treating averages as definitive. The report signals both concentration in a few cities and possible demand elsewhere, but uncertainty remains over how quickly new campuses will scale.

Original article: Indian branch campuses twice as costly as local universities – Times Higher Education (Google News (India))

This story was summarised and commented on by AI from the source linked above.