DU LLB Fees 2024: Delhi University’s 5-Year LLB Costs over 3000% More Than 3-Year LLB; Comparison

Delhi University has traditionally offered a 3-year LLB programme in its three law centres. For a change, the university started 5-year integrated LLB courses — BA LLB and BBA LLB from the academic year 2023-24. The scores of CLAT are used for admission to DU 5-year LLB courses whereas, DU 3-year LLB admissions are conducted through the national level Common Universities Entrance Test (CUET)-LLB. While there is a difference of 2 years between 3-year LLB and 5-year LLB courses along with some curriculum changes, the degrees are considered equivalent for all purposes. However, the DU 5-year integrated LLB costs almost 3162% of the 3-year LLB fee annually.

The overall cost of a 5-year LLB at Delhi University goes up to Rs.10 Lakh, whereas, the total fee for a 3-year LLB is just around Rs. 18,000. This puts the total DU 5-year LLB fee at 5,276% of the 3-year LLB fee.

Being a public-funded central university, Delhi University is known for offering different courses at low cost. However, a higher cost for 5-year LLB puts it almost at par with national law universities (state universities) and private universities.

5-year LLB is not the only course where DU increased the cost exponentially. The B.tech programme, which was introduced along with a 5-year LLB, is also offered at over 2 Lakh per year.

How is DU 5-year LLB different from 3-year LLB?

Unlike the 3-year LLB, which is a second-degree programme, the 5-year LLB at Delhi University opens the door for students looking to study law after Class 12. The DU 5-year LLB is a dual degree programme with combinations of BA—LLB and BBA—LLB. The programme structure of these two courses broadly covers the BA/BBA curriculum, communication/skills and Law courses. The 3-year LLB curriculum focuses on the law-specific subjects along with the moot courts and internships.

Why higher fees for DU 5-year LLB?

The 5-year LLB course by Delhi University is being offered with a consideration to graded autonomy, inspired by National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. In March 2024, the University Grant Commission (UGC) also granted autonomous status to Delhi University along with seven other universities. This is again in line with the NEP 2020 guidelines which seek to ensure academic and administrative autonomy in higher educational institutions.

Having academic and administrative autonomy means the university can determine its curriculum, admission process and fees. While autonomy with respect to the curriculum and admission process is expected to keep the courses relevant for industry requirements, autonomy in matters of fees means the university may not get public funds to run these courses.

For Delhi University, autonomy in fees shows a remarkable shift from a public-funding model to a self-sustaining model. It also opens the gates for the commercialisation of higher education in public-funded universities. DU will raise the funds to run new courses like integrated LLB and Btech on its own, effectively attaching the cost to the market forces and passing the financial burden on students through higher fees.

DU LLB Course Fees 2024: 3-year LLB vs 5-year LLB

The university releases the fee structure every year while announcing the admissions. The comparison of both courses is given below.

Detailed breakdown of DU 5-year LLB fees 2024

DU 3-year LLB Fees

Regarding 3-year LLB fees, the university does not provide a detailed breakup. Only the total fees are mentioned for PWD and other categories.

DU 3-year LLB fees (Source: 2023-24 brochure)

The fee mentioned above excludes the hostel and mess fees. DU Faculty of Law does not provide dedicated hostel facilities. However, students taking LLB courses are accommodated in various other hostels. The allotment of accommodation depends on their rank in the merit list and the university rules. The cost of hostel accommodation with mess charges is around Rs. 20,000 to 25,000.

Where does DU LLB stand in comparison to other central universities?

Several other central universities also offer 3-year LLB and 5-year LLB courses. The popular universities among them include Banaras Hindu University, Allahabad University and Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University.

There is no uniformity in the LLB fees in central universities. While the Faculty of Law, BHU Varanasi charges only around Rs. 10,000 for BA LLB, the total BBA LLB course fee at BBAU is Rs. 6 Lakh. Central University of Kashmir offers a 5-year LLB with around Rs. 34,000 fees. At DHSGSU Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, the 5-year LLB fee is approximately Rs. 1 lakh.

Here is a comparison of DU’s 5-year LLB course with private law colleges in India.

DU 5-year LLB Fees in comparison to private colleges

Does Delhi University offer any financial assistance?

The university provides fee concessions to students from weaker sections.The fee waiver is offered in the following manner;