Indian universities allowed to offer admissions twice a year

The University Grants Commission (UGC) of India has allowed higher education institutions to admit students twice a year or biannually in regular mode from academic year 2024-25, commission's chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said on Tuesday.

According to Kumar, the decision was taken during the UGC meeting held on 5 May.

Presently, universities and colleges admit students annually in July-August every year, in regular mode. Therefore, all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in India follow the academic session that begins in July-August and ends in May-June.

Last year, the UGC allowed students to take admission in open and distance learning (ODL) and online modes biannually in January and July during an academic year.

Kumar said that last year's decision had helped nearly half a million students join their degree programs without waiting for one full academic year.

"After the UGC permitted two cycle admissions in a year for Open and Distance Learning (ODL) and Online modes, as per the information furnished by the HEIs on the UGC portal, in addition to a total of 19,73,056 students were enrolled in July 2022 and an additional 4,28,854 students joined in January 2023 in ODL and online programs," he said.

The UGC chairperson said that considering the tremendous response and interest from the students in ODL and online programs in biannual admissions, the council took a policy decision to allow HEIs who offer programs in regular mode to admit students twice a year, either in January/February or July/August from the coming academic year.

"With this decision by UGC, HEIs offering programs either in online/ODL mode or regular physical mode will be able to admit students twice in a year," he said.

He emphasised that HEIs having sufficient infrastructure and teaching faculty can utilise the opportunity, and offering biannual admissions is not mandatory for them.

"If Indian universities can offer admission twice a year, it will benefit many students. Such as those who missed admission to a university in the July/August session due to a delay in the announcement of board results, health issues, or personal reasons. With biannual admissions in place, industries can also do their campus recruitment twice a year, improving employment opportunities for the graduates," Kumar said.

Kumar said that universities worldwide already follow a biannual admission system.

"If Indian HEIs adopt the biannual admission cycle, our HEIs can enhance their international collaborations and student exchanges. As a result, our global competitiveness will improve, and we will align with the global educational standards", he said.

"Biannual admissions can substantially increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio and make India a 'Global Study Destination' as envisioned in National Education Policy (NEP) 2020," he added.

Meanwhile, the UGC emphasised that to adopt a biannual mode of admissions, HEIs need to work on administrative intricacies, good planning for increased use of available resources and providing seamless support systems for the smooth transition of students admitted at dissimilar times of the year.

"HEIs can maximize the usefulness of biannual admissions only when they sufficiently prepare the faculty members, staff and students for the transition," Kumar added.