New Delhi: When Isha Sharma enrolled in the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP) in 2022, she expected a shorter route to a Master’s degree.
Instead, the 21-year-old Delhi University English Hons student and many others from the first FYUP batch found that the new degree structure has stretched their undergraduate-to-Master’s journey from an expected five to six years.
The FYUP, introduced under the National Education Policy (2020), was supposed to offer students the option of completing a Master’s degree in one year. But limited seats for one-year Master’s programmes and changing eligibility rules have left many unable to complete the two degrees in five years.
With only 5,857 seats available for Delhi University’s (DU’s) one-year postgraduate programmes compared to 12,111 applicants, Isha Sharma chose to enrol in a two-year postgraduate programme.
“I had two choices—either drop a year and apply for a one-year Master’s programme next year or take the two-year PG route. Either way, I was losing a year. Therefore, I decided to take the two-year route,” she told ThePrint.
As the first batch of FYUP students graduates and begins navigating their next steps, ThePrint spoke to some of them to understand their experiences of the new system—the choices they made, the challenges they encountered and how the FYUP has shaped their academic and career plans.
For several students from DU’s first FYUP cohort, the challenge goes beyond the unavailability of one-year postgraduate seats. Some point to eligibility criteria they say they were not made aware of when they opted for the four-year degree.
Shakshi Rao, who completed a four-year BA Programme from St. Stephen’s College, said she wanted to pursue a one-year Master’s in political science but found that the admission criteria gave preference to students with a BA (Honours) in political science.
“The admission criteria gave first preference to honours students. This is something we were not told even until the third year, when we decided to continue for another year. Now, I will have to take admission in a two-year programme, and honestly, I don’t understand why I did the extra year,” she told ThePrint.
DU Registrar Vikas Gupta said the university had initially announced 1,100 seats for its one-year Master’s programmes. “However, following requests from students, the university increased the number to 5,857 seats across 46 programmes. DU is offering the highest number of seats in one-year postgraduate programmes compared with any other university,” Gupta told ThePrint.
Besides DU, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is offering 71 seats across four programmes this year, while Dr B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi is offering 210 seats across seven programmes.
However, experiences of several students like Sharma and Rao suggest that the problem runs deeper than a shortage of postgraduate seats.
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‘The four-year experiment’
In 2022, DU introduced the four-year programme with multiple exit options, becoming the first Central University to do so.
In the fourth year, students could choose from three academic tracks — Dissertation Writing, involving individual research under faculty supervision; Academic Projects, which could be undertaken individually or in small groups; and Entrepreneurship, which involved entrepreneurship-focused courses and developing an entrepreneurship activity or project, with industry experts eligible to co-supervise students.
But as the first batch moved through the programme, several students and faculty members said they were navigating a system that was still evolving. Less than half of the students who enrolled in 2022-23 continued to the fourth year.
According to Delhi University data, 75,948 students enrolled in the 2022-23 academic year. Of these, 40,005 exited after completing three years in 2025, while around 35,943 continued into the fourth year. The figures include students enrolled through the School of Open Learning.
Of those who continued into four-year undergraduate programmes, only 12,111 applied for DU’s one-year postgraduate programmes.
For students who stayed on, uncertainty began early.
Sunanda Sinha, who completed the four-year undergraduate programme in Economics at Gargi College, said the rollout left students unclear about key aspects of the programme.
“The first-semester syllabus was approved only in August 2022, at a time when the new academic year had started. Similarly, the assessment pattern was announced in February 2023, almost half a year later,” she told ThePrint.
Faculty members also questioned whether the fourth-year curriculum adequately prepared students for the one-year postgraduate route.
Abha Dev Habib, an Associate Professor at Miranda House, said the fourth year did not provide students with the depth needed to move directly into a one-year postgraduate programme.
“The fourth year of Delhi University is not the same as the inputs required for a one-year MA. We wanted many more core papers in the fourth year so that a level playing field was created among students, but that did not happen,” she said.
Habib also pointed to changes introduced while students were already pursuing the programme.
“For example, in November last year, the university made it mandatory for every student pursuing any of the three tracks to submit a 30-minute video on their work. When many Academic Council and Executive Council members protested, they withdrew the requirement. That’s how the university kept making changes,” she said.
Mixed experiences, different gains
Student reactions to the fourth-year experience were mixed.
Several students described the fourth year as a valuable learning experience and, in some cases, a gateway to research.
Anjali, a mathematics student from DU’s Rajdhani College, has now enrolled in the one-year Master’s programme. For her, writing a research dissertation during the fourth year was a “life-changing” experience. “I was not sure about my career path initially, but after pursuing the fourth year, I am now sure that I want to go into academics in the future. It was kind of an eye-opening experience for me.”
Miranda House Principal Bijayalaxmi Nanda said the fourth year had benefited many of her students who went abroad for master’s programmes this year. “Earlier, when we wrote letters of recommendation, we did not have much to say about the research skills of our students. Now, we have evidence to demonstrate those skills as well,” she said.
However, many others found the fourth year “quite heavy”.
A St. Stephen’s College student, who has now joined Ambedkar University Delhi’s one-year Master’s programme, said the lack of clarity at the beginning resulted in work piling up towards the end. “Initially, everyone was just figuring out what to do and how to go about it. Therefore, everything piled up in the end. For example, for the dissertation, we were supposed to submit half of the research proposal in the first semester of the fourth year and the other half in the last semester. But there was so much confusion that everything piled up towards the end.”
“That’s why we could not do justice to the work. I feel that if things had been planned better, we could have learned much more,” the student added.
The challenges were not limited to academic planning. Faculty members also raised concerns about the infrastructure and staffing available to support fourth-year research.
Mithuraaj Dhusiya, Associate Professor at Hansraj College, said the lack of infrastructure was another challenge.
“With classrooms already under pressure, DU also turned to extended operating hours. In 2023, it directed colleges to keep classrooms and laboratories open from 8 am to 8 pm on working days for optimal use of existing resources. DU also asked colleges to stagger faculty and staff deployment to cover the extended hours,” he said.
DU said the extended hours would help ensure optimal use of existing infrastructure and resources.
“However, no college could implement it. The classes are not being held for that long, but the timetable has extended till evening now to at least 5-5.30 pm. It is impractical to conduct classes till 8 pm,” said Rajesh Jha, professor at Rajdhani College,
A report by ThePrint on 23 December 2024 raised the lack of resources ahead of the beginning of the fourth year.
Students look elsewhere
For some students, the uncertainty eventually became a reason to look beyond DU for postgraduate study.
An English (Honours) student at St. Stephen’s College, who did not wish to be named, instead moved to Madras Christian College to pursue a two-year postgraduate degree after completing the four-year programme.
“When we were in the third year, at least we had some idea of what was expected of us in the fourth year. But there was no clarity about the one-year postgraduate degree. Neither the curriculum nor the structure had been announced. The session also began very late, while I had started my master’s in Chennai in June itself,” the student told ThePrint.
Some chose to drop out during the fourth year. Nishant Sinha, who was pursuing a BSc Mathematics (Honours) at Rajdhani College, exited midway through the fourth year.
“Due to a lack of proper guidance and because none of our teachers knew about the research programme, I lost interest and quit. I am now pursuing a private B.Ed. and preparing for competitive exams. It is better than wasting time there,” he told ThePrint.
The ambiguous PhD route
Under the UGC’s 2022 PhD regulations framed in line with NEP 2020, the four-year degree was also meant to allow students to pursue a PhD directly, without a Master’s degree. According to these regulations, FYUP students are eligible for PhD admissions if they have a 7.5 CGPA.
But DU’s latest decision on the pathway has created another layer of uncertainty for the first four-year cohort.
DU Registrar Vikas Gupta said the university had already aligned the academic progression of fourth-year students with PhD programmes by allowing them to apply directly after completing the four-year programme. The university has amended Ordinance VI, with the approval of its Academic Council and Executive Council, to provide for the route.
Under the arrangement, students completing the FYUP with a minimum 7.5 CGPA—or 7 CGPA for SC/ST students—can apply directly for PhD programmes in the 2026-27 academic session.
Gupta said the provision had been introduced as “a special measure” for the first batch of four-year students graduating in 2026.
“For upcoming batches, proper guidelines will be formulated on PhD admissions. This time, DU will also conduct an entrance exam for these admissions,” he said.
The one-time nature of the provision has raised concerns among some students about what will happen if they cannot apply this year.
Rao, the former St. Stephen’s College student quoted above, said there was still no clarity on whether students from the first batch who do not apply this year would be able to use the direct-PhD route later.
“There is no clarity on whether students from the first batch who want to apply next year will be considered. If not, we will be at a loss here as well,” she said.
Meanwhile, faculty members also raised concerns that students opting for a direct PhD would be affected if they wanted to seek academic jobs.
“They can’t apply for NET or teaching jobs without a master’s. The UGC made provision for direct admissions without providing job options, and DU adopted it without questioning. None is realising how it will impact the future of these students,” said the principal of an off-campus college, requesting anonymity.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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