Why is JKLU called a philanthropic university?

We often talk about JK Lakshmipat University, Jaipur being a philanthropic venture of 125-year old JK group. Yesterday, someone on social media asked, "what does it mean?" In particular, does it mean that there is no fees. I explained there, but I thought this might be a question that many may had, and hence this brief blogpost.

Almost all private universities have only one source of funding which is the fee that they charge the students under various heads. Usually the promoters will fund the initial setting up expenses and after 3-4 years will stop further investments. Indeed, even expansion of infrastructure for more students is typically done through loans which are repaid from student fees. And it is a good model as long as promoters don't find ways to take out the surplus.

In case of JKLU, the JK group is funding the university even after such a long time (we have been in existence for 12 years). We get philanthropic gifts from many sources.

This allows us to keep our tuition low compared with institutions who provide similar quality of education. For example, our B.Des. program (which is the most expensive program at JKLU) has a fees of Rs. 2.75 lakh per year. If you look around good private universities offering programs like Product Design, Communication Design, Interaction Design, etc., the fee is even more than twice this amount.

On top of that low fee, we have very generous scholarships including some which takes care of 100% of the academic fee amount. And almost 50-60% of our admitted students in the university have received scholarship. And many students do get 100% scholarships for the duration of the program.

On top of that, the scholarships are usually for the entire duration of the program. The rule for continuation of scholarships is very liberal and typically 80-90% of the students on scholarship will continue with scholarship next year. For more data on this, you may check this blog: Scholarships versus Discounts: JKLU Scholarships are for all 4 years.

To summarize, the word "philanthropic" does not mean that 100% of our budget comes through gifts, but it means that a very substantial part of the budget comes through gifts which is a huge plus for students and parents since they get high quality education at a much reduced cost.


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