Updated as on Jun 25, 2026. AICTE Refund policy: Last date for Admission cancellation of seats for technical courses with full fee refund is Sep 11, 2026, and the AICTE, in a circular issued, has said that any student who withdraws by that date should be returned the full fee.

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All institutes approved by the council must commence classes for first-year students on or before 14th August, 2025. This is as per the academic calendar for 2025-2026 released by the AICTE, which has some important guidelines for: Technical Institutions, Standalone PGDM / PGCM Institutions, Institutions with ODL / Online Programs(s) / Courses(s).

READ: AICTE Revises Academic Calenda -2026

AICTE Notification: Key Dates for Refund 2026 batch

Fee Refund	Dates
Last date for admission to courses in PGDM/PGCM institutions	Aug 14, 2026
Last Date to Get the Fee Refund from the Institute	7 Days from the Submission of Application

“The institution should not demand a fee for the subsequent year/semester from a student cancelling admission at any point of time,” the circular added.

AICTE Refund Policy 2024 – 2025 Update

To take the final call on dropping out of a particular college and seek refund for the fees deposited is a critical decision and often takes time to happen as there are many factors which control this situation. While a student may have been selected by his/her preferred college, but he/she may not have been offered the choice of specialization by that college. Due to which one may be on the lookout for other options which may be available.

Institutes may ask the student to deposit an amount ranging anything from fifty thousand to few lacs of rupees in fees, which makes it difficult for students to shift if they get admission somewhere else.

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At one hand it is important that the institute filters out the seriously interested ones from the not-so-serious ones in order to not have their seats vacant and at the other hand students should not suffer in case he wants to drop out if they are selected by a college of his choice.

In order to appropriately regulate this, it has been felt that norms and standards regarding fee refund be spelt out precisely and it is followed by colleges as per AICTE regulations. The guidelines are set for various categories – Under graduate programs to PGDM students and other courses. Admission Cancellation and AICTE Refund policy and why one should not wait till the last date.

Let’s take the example of Business Schools/MBA Colleges offering PGDM/MBA Program :

Rules for Institutions offering PGDM/MBA programs:

The notification says that PGDM institutions shall refund fees collected after deducting an amount of Rs. 1,000 as processing fee and return the certificates to the students withdrawing from the institutions before the last date of admission for whatever reasons, as per the procedure prescribed by AICTE. The last date for withdrawal of admissions for the purpose of refund of fees shall be 30 June every year. The refund should be made within 7 days of working.

In case the student withdraws after the commencement of the programs and the last stipulated date i.e June 30^th she or he shall also be liable to get a refund after a deduction calculated pro rata as per the number of days or month or semester according to the policies laid down by the college which needs to be checked with the college site.

Why one should not wait till the last date for applying for refund

The refund cannot be refused or delayed by the colleges as it would be seen as a direct violation of the AICTE rules. However, it is normal for the colleges to take some time towards processing the refund request. More so, if the number of request is high.

The other reason being, once a drop out happens the next candidate in the waitlist gets a chance for admission. So, why deprive someone from getting a seat.

On request received before the date of start of the academic session & seat could be filled by the Institute before the cut off date. Entire fee less by Rs 1000*
On request received on/after the beginning of academic session & seat could be filled by the Institute before the cut off date. Entire fee less the Seat Cancellation Charges on pro rata basis **
On request received before/after the start of the academic session & seat could not be filled by the Institute No Refund (except security deposit). Check Link

* Entire amount of Security/Caution Money Deposit will be refunded to the candidate.

** For calculation of the Cancellation Charges on the pro-rata basis, one month shall be treated as one unit e.g. if the candidate cancels admission on third day i.e. within one month after the start of academic session & the seat is filled before the cut off date, then Cancellation charges on pro rata basis will be the higher amount of (Entire fee ) /12 or Rs. 1000/-