₹2.5 lakh for learning ABCs? Wealth advisor says India’s nursery schools now cost more than MBAs

In India’s wealthiest circles, nursery admissions have become the new status obsession. With annual fees soaring as high as ₹14 lakh, elite schools aren’t just teaching ABCs—they’re selling access, prestige, and social clout. And thousands of parents are buying in, willingly.

A LinkedIn post by Chandralekha MR, founder of Dime, brought this reality into sharp focus. Reacting to a Hyderabad school that charges ₹2.51 lakh per year for nursery admission, she wrote, “Even my BBA at Christ University cost less back then.” But that school is far from an outlier.

Across India’s metro cities, early education is becoming an ultra-premium market. Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai, she writes, tops the list at ₹14 lakh per year. École Mondiale follows at ₹6.9 lakh. Oakridge International in Bengaluru charges ₹3.6 lakh, Pathways World School in Gurgaon demands ₹1.6 lakh, and Pune’s Indus International School lists ₹2.33 lakh for its youngest enrollees.

Despite the cost, demand remains staggering. In Delhi alone, more than 2.3 lakh applications were filed last year for just 1.25 lakh nursery seats.

Chandralekha explains this frenzy through a single word: exclusivity.

“These schools are no longer just about academics,” she writes. “They’re a launchpad—not just for kids, but for a family’s social standing.” From curated parent WhatsApp groups to polished alumni networks, the elite school ecosystem offers more than just education—it offers entry into India’s growing class of aspirational privilege.

Parents today are looking beyond textbooks. They’re buying into a network, a future, and often, a perception. And in that pursuit, the line between education and luxury is blurring fast.

While some argue that premium fees are justified by international curricula, sprawling campuses, and advanced facilities, others see a pricing bubble built on vanity metrics.

“It’s understandable that running a premium school involves sky-high infrastructure costs,” Chandralekha acknowledges. “But charging ₹2–3 lakh for a 4-year-old still feels like a steep price for access.”

Still, the market is speaking: when prestige becomes the product, price stops being the problem.