Bengaluru: After a few years of slump, BDS has come back as one of the popular choices among students, leading to a hike in the management quota fees by colleges across Karnataka.While last year there were no vacant seats, colleges are hoping the trend will remain the same this year too. The third round of counselling is currently underway.For instance, MS Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences rebounded strongly from Rs 6.5 lakh to over Rs 10 lakh per year, making it the highest fee in the state. The Oxford Dental College also hiked its fee by Rs 3,00,000 (from Rs 5.6 lakh to Rs 8.6 lakh). Raja Rajeshwari Dental College increased it by Rs 2 lakh (from Rs 4.6 lakh to Rs 6.6 lakh).Several major colleges, including Vydehi Institute (Rs 8,11,950), AJ Institute (Rs 6,11,950), and Dr BR Ambedkar Dental College (Rs 4,86,950), froze their management quota fees at the 2025-26 levels. Navodaya Dental College, Raichur (Rs 2,86,950) and Academy of Medical Education, Raichur (Rs 2,86,950) offer the lowest management quota fees, followed closely by Al-Ameen Dental College (Rs 3,09,450) and Subbaiah Institute (Rs 3,10,950).Dr Girish B Giraddi, director-cum-dean of Government Dental College & Research Institute, Bengaluru, said: “After a slump for 5-6 years, BDS is now popular. Options for MBBS in many foreign countries like Ukraine, Russia have come down. Since they are not able to go there, the students are also opting BDS here. Moreover, Gen Z believes in work-life balance. They do not want night duties and additional work. The counseling process has also improved and have made choosing BDS an easy process.”More students are writing NEET and are becoming eligible for admissions. “There are also only two slabs of intake now – either 50 or 100. Many colleges with seats between 50 and 100 reduced it back to 50, thus bringing down the seats. All these have helped colleges to fill all seats,” said SNVL Narasimharaju, chairman, Oxford Dental College.“Both medical and engineering streams seems to be under a lot of stress now. After years of slump, dental is back. Some colleges may have increased the fee this year. But if you take a 10-year statistics, the hike has been only minimal. For the amount of investment required in dentistry and the inflation, it really does not matter,” said MR Jayaram, honorary secretary, Karnataka private medical & dental colleges association.
