How Private Schools Should Fix Fees for a New Campus
Fee setting in India is not a national decision, it is a state decision. A new campus has to be priced to its own state's law and formula from day one, because most states then lock that fee for a three year block. This is the July 2026 map, verified against the governing Acts, notifications and court orders.
Why there is no single national fee rule
Education sits on the Concurrent List of the Constitution (Entry 25, moved there by the 42nd Amendment in 1976), so both the Union and the states can legislate on it. In practice, the power to regulate school fees rests almost entirely with the states. Not every state has passed a dedicated fee law. Where one does not exist, a school falls back on the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, and the affiliation bye-laws of its board.
A private school must be run by a non-profit entity: a public charitable trust, a registered society, or a Section 8 company, not a for-profit business. The Supreme Court, in T.M.A. Pai Foundation (2002), allows a reasonable surplus for growth but bars profiteering and the commercialisation of education.
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