The University Grants Commission (UGC) has made an important policy change in Indian higher education. Under this, universities across the country have been allowed to admit students twice a year. This means that now regular students will also be able to take admission in universities across the country in January-February in addition to the July-August session.
UGC Chairman M. Jagadeesh Kumar told news agency ANI that this admission model on a half-yearly basis will start in various universities from the next academic session 2025-26. It will attempt to change the traditional criteria of admission, which will potentially benefit the students greatly.
According to the current UGC rule, for regular mode programs, students get admission only once a year, for one academic session. And this session starts in July or August. But with the recent decision of UGC, it will now be possible for students to get admission twice a year. Apart from July-August, students can now take admission in January or February academic session.
This decision will allow universities across the country to admit regular students to undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programmes on a half-yearly basis. However, it will be up to the universities whether they adopt the new rules of UGC or not. UGC has said that it is not mandatory for universities to adopt the new system. Now some natural questions arise here. Like, how can students benefit from this new system of UGC, what difficulties will be faced in implementing it practically?
Actually, last year UGC had allowed admission on half-yearly basis for Open and Distance Learning (ODL) and online mode. There were two admission cycles in this as January and July. During this trial period, UGC found that its initiative benefited about five lakh students, who would have had to wait for a whole year for admission if this system (admission on half-yearly basis) was not available.
According to UGC Chairman Jagdish Kumar, in view of this “overwhelming response and interest” of students in ODL and online programs, the UGC Council held a meeting in May. In this meeting, the council decided that now this half-yearly basis admission policy will be extended to higher educational institutions that offer regular mode programs to students.
Speaking to the Indian Express, Jagadeesh Kumar said, “This new admission policy can benefit those students who missed admission in the July/August session due to health problems, delay in board exam results or personal reasons. With the option of admission twice a year, they will not have to wait for a whole year before applying again.”
Kumar said that foreign universities have adopted the half-yearly admission system and this system in Indian institutions can “enhance international cooperation and student exchange among them.” Apart from this, he said that this system can also help in increasing the ‘Gross Enrollment Ratio’ (GER). GER means the ratio of the number of students enrolled to the population of the age group eligible for higher education.
Although the new admission policy is not mandatory for universities, if colleges want to increase the number of students or start new programs in emerging areas, they will have exemption for this. To implement this, the institutions will have to follow the guidelines of UGC. And accordingly they will have to amend their rules to provide the facility of admission twice a year.
However, there are some valid questions behind its implementation. For example, what measures has UGC taken regarding admissions based on entrance exams. Apart from this, the need for infrastructure, availability of adequate faculty, staff arrangements, these are some of the questions that can become a hindrance in the path of this new admission policy.
On the question of entrance exam, Jagdish Kumar says, “For admission in PhD, all universities currently give admission in July. We are conducting UGC-NET exam twice a year. So universities can now start giving admission in PhD programs twice a year. CUET (PG) is not mandatory for postgraduate programs. It is only an option and many universities give admission on the basis of their own entrance exam or marks in undergraduate programs. Now they can give admission in master’s programs under the new policy.”
Similarly, for undergraduate programmes, CUET (UG) is mandatory only for central universities, he said. If a university wants to start UG programmes in the second session, it is free to do so. However, universities may have to work on their infrastructure needs, availability of faculty and plan it over time.
According to Jagadeesh Kumar, higher education institutions can make the most of the new admission policy only if they adequately prepare faculty members, staff and students for the changes.