‘School fees new status symbol’: Founder warns education inflation crushing India’s middle class

Forget the car. For India’s middle class, the real status symbol today is sky-high private school fees—now consuming a larger chunk of household income than ever before.

Vinayak Seth, founder of VinFinCapital, sparked a LinkedIn conversation this week by declaring, “The new status symbol of India’s middle class isn’t a car. It’s school fees.” His post draws a sharp comparison between today’s education spending and the car-buying aspirations of a decade ago.

Back then, stretching for a Maruti was a milestone. Today, families are channeling that ₹3–5 lakh a year toward private school fees—many without blinking. In Tier-1 cities, mid-range schools charge ₹2–4 lakh annually, while “premium” institutions in metros routinely demand ₹6–10 lakh per child per year.

This spike has far outpaced salary growth. While average education inflation hovers at 6–12% annually, median salary growth lags behind at around 9%. For many single-income households earning India’s average of ₹4.4 lakh per year, schooling two children can eat up 80% of one parent’s income.

Seth notes that school fees have risen 150–200% in the past decade, quietly overtaking house rent, car EMIs, and even healthcare as the top household expense. The impact? Parents slashing savings, altering lifestyles, and increasingly viewing education as a luxury investment, not just a right.

Fintechs are now offering EMIs for school fees—an emerging sign of middle-class stress. Meanwhile, protests over fee hikes are rising in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, but regulatory controls remain loose.