Tamil Nadu tells private medical colleges not to demand upfront fees from eligible SC, ST students

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu's Medical Selection Committee has ordered self-financing medical and dental colleges, and colleges under state private universities, to admit eligible Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students without collecting tuition and other fees upfront.

Notification No.30/SCS1(1)/2026, dated 25 September and issued from the Directorate of Medical Education and Research in Kilpauk, says the committee has received multiple complaints from candidates in the SC, SCA, ST and SCC categories. According to the notice, certain colleges have been demanding upfront payment from students who are eligible for the Post Matric Scholarship Scheme.

Who is covered

The exemption applies to SC, SCA, ST and SCC candidates belonging to Tamil Nadu whose parents' annual income is below Rs 2.50 lakh. For these students, colleges cannot insist on upfront payment of tuition fees, development fees or other non-refundable fees fixed by the Fee Fixation Committee.

The committee has not framed a new rule. It has reminded Deans and Vice Principals of an existing order, G.O.(Ms) No.92 of the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department dated 19 November 2012, and of a more recent letter, No. L1/15038/DADW/2025 dated 12 September 2026, from the Adi Dravidar Welfare Department.

What colleges have been told to do

The instructions are specific. Eligible students must be admitted and allowed to join the course without any demand for upfront tuition, development or other non-refundable fees. The college itself has to process and facilitate the Post Matric Scholarship claim within the prescribed time.

One line in the notice speaks directly to the complaints. Reimbursement by the government, it says, shall follow admission and shall not precede it or be made a precondition for it. A college cannot tell a student to pay now and wait for the scholarship refund.

The committee has also clarified the length of the fee liability. Tuition fees can be levied only for four and a half years of academic study, in line with National Medical Commission norms. No tuition fee can be collected for the one-year compulsory rotating medical internship.

Complaints about any deviation will be viewed seriously and forwarded to the appropriate authorities for action, the notice says. It does not name any college.

Why it matters this week

The notice comes in the middle of the 2026-27 admission season, when students allotted MBBS and BDS seats in self-financing colleges report with certificates and fee receipts. Fees in these institutions are set by the Fee Fixation Committee, and for a family under the Rs 2.50 lakh income line, being asked to pay the full amount first and wait for the scholarship can decide whether the student joins at all.

Students who fall within the income limit should carry proof of community and a valid income certificate when they report, and should ask the college for written acknowledgement that their scholarship claim has been taken up. If a college still asks for payment before admission, the notice gives families a document to point to: the committee's own Notification No.30 dated 25 September 2026, available on tnmedicalselection.net.

The notice applies to self-financing medical and dental colleges and state private university colleges. It does not mention government colleges, where fees are far lower, or deemed universities.