The first issue of CEPT University's in-house newsletter seems to have created ripples among faculty members and students. Probe, the four page newsletter issued on August 15, came down heavily on the university's summer schools. It has also raised a concern regarding for-profit education in an opinion piece titled Summer School Disillusion. The Summer and Winter Schools provide students opportunities to gain valuable experience that goes beyond traditional classrooms. Yet another opinion piece in the newsletter slams the university authorities' decision of collecting "tangible evidence" of informal student gatherings on campus.

The students have narrated an incident where security guards came down with cameras and went on a clicking spree when they had informally gathered to meet and talk. The newsletter's first two pages praise the cosmopolitan culture the varsity offers and also about the fun of sighting various birds. Criticising the Summer School, a student wrote, "This course, promoted as a hands-on experience in a secluded village of the lower Himalayas of Uttarakhand ended up being an absolute disillusionment for the 27 students that attended it."

The summer course, while aimed at prototyping small constructions with the local regional techniques, would enlist students in pastime-basis undertakings with insufficiently arranged tools, materials and masons. "The course lacked a formal pedagogical structure in its development, discipline of both action and thought, as well as a general purpose of outcome," it stated. The newsletter went on to say the students found inconsistencies with the amounts charged by the tutors, "hence there was a collective abstention from paying a part of the required fees (which evidently sparked a forceful confrontation with the tutors)," it stated.

The letter states that the matter of concern is not only the "dubious quality" of some courses or even disengagement of the university from the matter but also the "educational model that may be withdrawn from this sort of incident". "Who is revising the academic frameworks of the course? Who is checking for pedagogic experience? What are the guarantees of educational quality CEPT should deliver?" the letter asked. In charge of the summerwinter school at CEPT University, Anal Shah said that she has not yet gone through the content of the newsletter and so she would not like to comment on the same.

She said that courses for that Summer-Winter School are selected after a rigorous process. "This year summer school received 100 course proposals but only 80 were selected after review. The courses are chosen by deans and conducted in consultation with them." She added, "We welcome suggestions and feedback from students and incorporate them in the following course cycle. Students had already provided their feedback for this particular course and also discussed it with their faculty. It will be incorporated as CEPT considers students views as important feedback to achieve excellence," she stated. Officials at CEPT stated that fees begin from Rs 11,000 and go on to over Rs 1 lakh for international course.