Over 217,000 register for DU UG admissions; dip of 70,000 from last year

More than 2.17 lakh students have registered for Delhi University's undergraduate programmes this academic session, down by nearly 70,000 as compared to the last year.

Last year, the university saw more than 2.87 lakh registrations, while in 2020, 3.53 lakh aspirants applied for undergraduate programmes at the university.

This year, the university is admitting students through Common University Entrance Test (CUET) scores instead of their Class 12 marks.

Last year, registration was open between August 2 and August 31. However, this year registration portal was open on September 12 and closed on October 13. The DU began admissions for over 70,000 seats last month. However, a university official said the number is "not low" but similar to the last year.

According to data provided by the university, as many as 2,17,653 aspirants have registered for its undergraduate courses till Thursday, the last day for applying.

"Out of this, more than 1.5 lakh have marked their college and course preferences," Dean of Admissions Professor Haneet Gandhi told PTI. On September 12, the university released its admission-cum-allocation policy CSAS.

Admission through the Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS) is being conducted in three phases -- submission of the CSAS-2022 application form, selection of programmes and filling of preferences, and seat allocation and admission.

The admissions are open for 79 UG programmes across 67 colleges, departments, and centres. The programmes include 206 combinations of BA courses. When asked about the number of registration, Gandhi said the number is not low and every year similar number of registrations is observed.

"The number of registration this year is not low. It is a good number. Last year as well we witnessed a similar number of registration," she said.

Meanwhile, a Delhi University teacher has attributed the decline in registration to the delay in the conduct of CUET.

"The CUET was conducted so late that the students already got admission into private universities and that is why the number is quite low. What was the need to implement CUET from this year?" asked Rajesh Jha, who teaches at Rajdhani College.