IIJNM Drops Journalism Courses. Here’s What Email Notice Said

The Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media (IIJNM) in Bangalore, one of India's top journalism schools, has announced the discontinuation of its journalism courses due to decline in student interest.

In an email to the upcoming batch, IIJNM informed students that it will no longer offer programs in journalism, citing a lack of viable enrollment numbers. The institution used to offer  three Post-Graduate Diploma programs in Print Journalism, Broadcast Journalism, and Online/Multimedia Journalism.

According to the email, the decision was made due to the "recent environment" in which the institution has been operating, making it challenging to attract enough students to avoid substantial financial losses.

In the email, the institution said: “In the past 24 years, IIJNM has been a school of excellence in the Journalism profession offering the best programme among colleges in India. However, given the recent environment in which we have been operating, it is not possible to attract enough students to avoid huge financial losses to continue the programme. Without waiting for the planned start of the course this year on July 22, 2024, we are giving you notice of closing down our beloved Institution. We recognise it might pose some difficulty for you, but we have no other choice.”

The institution offered to refund admission fees already paid by students, requesting banking details to facilitate the refund within 10 days. "We will refund the amount within 10 days of receipt of your banking details." 

“Once again, we regret having to make this decision which has been extremely painful to us,” the email read.