This petition is important because we believe what LUMS is doing is rather wrong as it is causing a lot of problems for its existing as well as upcoming students.

The cost of attendance was raised by almost 10% all of a sudden. The fee voucher happens to show up online with approximately 10% increment and apparently we don’t have a say on it. There exists no policy to challenge this hike in price whatsoever as LUMS maintains “Tuition and fees are subject to change without notice.”

Moreover, their website still shows Undergrad tuition fee per semester of 252,000 (for 2015-2016) in contrast to 272,400 billed for Fall ’16. We demand the cost of attendance, and tuition rate be lowered back to the amount which was charged last year (2015-2016). And that it be kept constant until graduation.

Besides decrying the recent hike in fees, the point of this petition in general is to condemn the staggering rise in cost of attendance at LUMS which is only affordable for students with very wealthy backgrounds. It is understandable that LUMS does not meet 100% financial need but it sure does fail to offer affordable tuition rates for students even from upper middle-class backgrounds.

Self-paying students comprise of a very large percentage of LUMS student body. And parents exhaust all their resources and life-savings to send their children to LUMS. In case of more than one children – affordability is near impossible. Children’s education at an institution such as LUMS should be an honor for parents, not a burden.

It is a right of all of us to receive good education. Students who were denied financial aid or didn’t apply for aid shouldn’t have to face with increasing cost of attendance per annum as it jeopardizes family’s financial planning when estimated cost of a LUMS degree vastly outnumbers their planned expenditure.

Even though LUMS hails itself as a non-profit, it earns millions in endowments, funding from multinationals etc all of which goes into its expansionist plans rather than keeping the cost of attendance down.

We demand that LUMS bring its cost of attendance down to the amount charged in 2015-2016. And as a policy keep it steady for every batch every semester until it graduates. Upcoming freshman could be charged a higher amount but their fees should remain the exact same for next 4 or 5 years.

We are against the over-burdening of parents which eventually leads to students themselves feeling the pressure and for many it manifests into losing their academic focus. We support education for all and we wish every student admitted into LUMS graduates without financial burden on himself/herself or his/her parents. Therefore, we demand a drop in LUMS tuition fee and a change in its policy.