The allocation for the Higher Education Department in Tamil Nadu Revised Budget 2026-27 has dropped by ₹101 crore compared to last fiscal year prompting sharp response from educationists and activists.

The total outlay for the department has been put at ₹8,393 crore. In his Budget speech, State Finance Minister N. Marie Wilson highlighted allocation of ₹2,000 crore for the “Vetri Laptop Scheme” for college students and the proposal to establish a specialised government law college in Madurai with an intake of 300 students.

He also announced the setting up of Tamil Nadu Student Housing and Infrastructure Corporation to build 200 integrated students’ hostels with one lakh beds through a Public-Private Partnership model at a total capital outlay of ₹3,200 crore with a State grant of ₹640 crore. Although the Finance Minister’s speech did not mention much else, budget documents indicate that the government has allocated ₹1,807 crore as a grant to universities, which is an increase from ₹1,678 crore last fiscal. Besides, there has been a marginal increase in the amount allocated for the payment of fees for students admitted to colleges under the 7.5% horizontal reservation scheme (preferential allotment for students who studied in government schools from Class VI to Class XII).

Reacting to the budget, G. Thiruvasagam, former vice-chancellor of University of Madras, said that Tamil Nadu’s 20-odd universities have over 50% vacancies in faculty positions. If the government seeks to fill up the vacancies, the allocation will not be enough. The shortfall in faculty members is being managed with part-time faculty, which has impacted research and publication, not to mention pedagogy and instruction.

Although Tamil Nadu universities and colleges have fared better than others in the country in NIRF rankings, poor funding from the government has begun to take a toll. “All universities are low on resources. The allocation would not even meet a fraction of their requirement,” Dr. Thiruvasagam asserted. Elaborating, he said that public universities in the State were losing students to private universities because of better infrastructure, laboratory facilities, and technology-oriented teaching materials there. “If we are to attract better and more students to our universities, we need to increase funding several times,” he added.

Meanwhile, P.B. Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary, State Platform for Common School System-Tamil Nadu, raised concerns over the cost of accommodation and food at the students’ hostels built under the PPP model. He said there was significant risk that it would impose a heavy financial burden on both students and parents, especially first-generation learners and women students. The decrease in allocation to Higher Education at a time when universities were facing a financial crisis contradicts the government’s stated policy of strengthening higher education, he added.