The turnout of foreign students at Jadavpur University (JU) is on the rise, prompting the authorities to frame a fee structure for them. A cell has been set up to deal with the fees of foreign students and related matters.

“The number of foreign students at JU is increasing. The decision to set up the cell and frame a fee structure are part of our policy to draw more foreign students to our courses,” said Partha Pratim Biswas, a senior teacher and member of the university’s executive council.

According to the new fee structure, to come into effect during the next academic session, students from developed countries will have to pay $2,000 a year for studying a full-time undergraduate (UG) or postgraduate (PG) course in arts and science. For studying any UG or PG course in engineering, students will have to shell out $5,000 a year.

For a PG diploma course of more than a year, the fee for students from developed countries has been fixed at $4,000 a year. A short-term PG diploma course will cost $200 a month.

The new fee for M.Phil is $800 a year. For a Ph.D, a student will have to pay $500 for registration, $1,000 for submission of the thesis and a one-time residence fee of $5,000.

Students from developing countries will have to pay half of what their counterparts from developed countries will pay.

The proposal to set up the cell and frame a fee structure for foreign students was recently approved by the executive council — one of the two highest-policy making bodies of the university, the other being the court.

Around 100 foreign students are now studying at JU, mostly in the arts faculty.

The number of students from Europe and the US is low compared with the turnout from countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

“Students from Europe and the US, too, are now showing interest in many of our courses that are of international standards,” said Biswas.

The subjects most in demand among foreign students are computer applications, computer science, fine arts, arts, philosophy and a few other subjects in humanities. “Our target is to attract students from abroad in the engineering faculty,” Biswas said.