IITM BS Fees Per Year and Per Term: What You Actually Pay

There is no fixed fee per year or per semester for the IITM BS. You pay for each course you register for, one term at a time. In Data Science (DS), a foundation course costs Rs 6,000 for students who joined from January 2026. So a year with 6 foundation courses costs Rs 36,000. The full DS degree costs Rs 3,86,000 to Rs 4,50,000, which is about Rs 1 lakh a year if you finish in 4 years.

How the fee is charged

• DS, Management and Aeronautics have three terms a year: January, May and September.
• Each term you choose your courses, up to 4, and pay only for those. In your first term, your qualifier score sets how many you can take.
• Fees are set per credit. Most courses are 4 credits, so a course costs 4 times the rate for its level.
• The official FAQ says the programme fee is never collected in one go.

So "fees per year" really means "fees for the courses you take that year".

What one course costs

These are full fees before any waiver, for students who join from January 2026. Each figure is for a 4-credit course.

Behind these numbers:

• DS degree courses cost Rs 3,000 a credit at Level 3 and Rs 5,000 at Levels 4 and 5. Management lists the same two rates.
• Labs, projects and some courses carry fewer credits, so they cost less. A 2-credit DS project costs Rs 6,000.
• The Electronic Systems (ES) and Aeronautics (AE) pages give two rates at foundation and diploma, but do not say which courses get the lower one.

For level totals, see how much each level costs.

A year of Data Science foundation courses

This is what a first year can cost at different speeds, at Rs 6,000 per course.

If you clear all 8 foundation courses in two terms, your third term can go to diploma courses. Each 4-credit diploma course adds Rs 12,000. The first term limit is explained in how many courses you can take after qualifying.

The full degree, averaged per year

Read this table with two points in mind:

• 4 years is the fastest. The DS handbook says a BS needs at least 12 terms from your first term. The ES and AE pages give 4 to 8 years. Going slower lowers each year's bill, not the total.
• Real years are uneven. Foundation credits are the cheapest, so the first terms usually cost the least. Degree level years cost the most. In ES, the 43 foundation credits cost Rs 82,000, while the 56 BS level credits cost Rs 3,36,000.

If you joined before 2026

The rates above are for students who join the foundation level from January 2026. DS students who joined in September 2025 or earlier keep the older rates: Rs 1,000 per foundation credit (Rs 4,000 a course) and Rs 2,500 per diploma theory credit (Rs 10,000 a course). See the old DS fee structure.

Fee waivers change every number

SC, ST and PwD students, and students with family income up to Rs 5 lakh a year, can get 50% or 75% off course fees. The waiver does not apply to students outside India. Check the rules in the fee waiver guide.

Other money to plan for in a year

• Qualifier application: Rs 4,000 for general category, less for SC, ST and PwD. You pay it once per application.
• RKA: Rs 1,000 for each term in which you take no courses.
• Repeats: a failed course costs its full fee again. If you miss only the end term exam, the retake fee is Rs 1,000 for a foundation course and Rs 2,000 for a diploma or degree course.
• ES and AE labs: travel to IIT Madras for lab sessions, and an ES lab kit.

All of these are listed in extra IITM BS costs.

Common questions

Is the IITM BS fee charged per semester?

No. DS, Management and Aeronautics run three terms a year. You pay when you register each term, for the courses you pick. There is no flat term or semester fee.

What is the first year fee for IITM BS Data Science?

It depends on how many courses you take. For students joining from January 2026, each foundation course is Rs 6,000. So 3 to 8 courses in the first year cost Rs 18,000 to Rs 48,000 before any waiver. The qualifier fee is separate.

Do I have to pay for all 4 years at admission?

No. You pay course by course, every term. If you stop after the foundation level, you have only paid for the foundation courses you took.

Will the per-course fee go up during my degree?

The fee pages keep the older rates for students who joined till September 2025 and apply new rates to students joining from January 2026. They do not promise that rates will never change, so check the fee page before each registration.