New Delhi: In a major relief for students seeking higher education, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has now allowed the universities and colleges in India to offer admissions twice a year.
As of now admission for mainly the undergraduate courses in universities and the affiliated colleges is offered once in a year, often the board exam results are announced. The academic cycle at present is from July/August to May/June.
With the latest UGC decision, universities and colleges across India will be allowed to offer admission twice a year either in January/February or July/August from 2024-25.
"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," UGC Chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar told news agency PTI.
"Biannual university admissions will help students maintain motivation since they do not have to wait one full year to be admitted if they miss admission in the current cycle. With biannual admissions in place, industries can also do their campus recruitment twice a year, improving employment opportunities for the graduates," he added.
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 the 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 the 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, according to Hindustan Times.
“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.
The UGC Chairman however said offering biannual admissions is not mandatory for the higher education institutions.
"It is the flexibility that the UGC provides to the HEIs who want to increase their student intake and offer new programmes in emerging areas", the UGC Chairman said.
To be able to admit students twice a year, HEIs must make suitable amendments to their institutional regulations.
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