CLAT exam, NLU admission costs are ‘a barrier’ to studying law: Students

It takes about Rs 44,000 just to get in the door and anywhere between Rs 2 lakh to Rs 4.55 lakh for full admission and the programme. Even those with relatively high rank in the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) for entry into the National Law Universities say the admission process is too expensive.

“I had to pay Rs 4,000 just to sit for the exam. Even before entering law school, there is already a barrier,” said a student from Kolkata who has just cleared the CLAT 2026, earning an all-India rank of 527 and a state rank of 14, all but guaranteeing him a NLU seat, in a five-year law programme. For applicants from marginalised backgrounds – Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes – Rs 500 is knocked off . Then, there's a counselling fee – Rs 30,000.

“Law is becoming a profession accessible only to a select strata. Someone who is academically capable but cannot afford these costs may never even get the opportunity to compete,” he said. The cost of the CLAT process has led to litigation. In October, NLU students issued a statement urging the Consortium of NLUs, which conducts the CLAT, to act.

CLAT: Cost and conduct

The costs have drawn attention especially in the light of the controversy over the previous CLAT exam which saw errors in answer keys and a protracted court battle that ultimately delayed admissions by months and led to the revision of answers.

“Every year there is some issue — answer key errors, counselling confusion, or now alleged paper leaks. Yet the application fee keeps increasing,” said another CLAT aspirant. “For many middle-class families, especially those from smaller towns, the fee itself becomes a barrier. If the exam process is not fully fair and transparent, students should not be asked to pay such high fees.” The fee for challenging the answer key was Rs 1,000 in the last session; following court battles, it was dropped to Rs 500 for CLAT 2026.

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To put the application fee into perspective – it is four times the fee for Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main for engineering and architecture and more than double the fee for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET UG). Those are conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Government support for law entrance cost

Student groups like the Cross-NLU Initiative have questioned the high costs and administrative decisions linked to CLAT. They have asked the NLU Consortium to make the exam more affordable and easier for students.

Since CLAT is the main entrance to National Law Universities across India, aspirants say the exam must be both affordable and trustworthy.

Another aspirant, also speaking on condition of anonymity, argued that the cost of conducting the examination should not be passed on entirely to students. “The government should allocate funds for conducting national-level entrance exams like CLAT,” the student said. “The service providers responsible for organising the exam should be supported financially by the government, instead of recovering the entire amount through application fees.”

The student, who has secured a rank in the 12000 range on the CLAT, said they plan to appear for other law entrance tests as well, including ALSAT, and also to apply to institutions such as St Xavier’s University and Techno India University, West Bengal, both of which have their own admission processes. “When students apply to multiple exams, the cumulative cost becomes overwhelming,” the aspirant added.

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CLAT syllabus ‘vast and random’

According to students, the absence of a clearly defined syllabus makes preparation stressful and unpredictable.

“The syllabus is extremely vast and random. On the day of the exam, it often feels like a game of luck,” said the student who secured 527 rank. “Someone who has prepared rigorously for months might still not crack the exam, while another might succeed simply because the paper suited them.”

Students feel that a clearly outlined syllabus would allow aspirants to prepare with greater confidence and reduce dependence on guesswork.