New Delhi: Not just central universities, more and more private universities are registering for the Common University Entrance Exam (CUET), shows the official data. Out of 233 universities that registered for CUET during the 2023-24 academic session, 118 are private universities. The entrance exam also saw a 41 per cent rise in the number of applications this year.
In addition to this, 37 of the registered universities are state universities and 31 are deemed universities, according to the information made public by the UGC.
Last year, the University Grants Commission launched CUET for admission to central and state universities with the goal of creating a level-playing field for all students and to overcome the problem of soaring cut-offs in several universities across the country.
Previously, prominent private universities used to conduct their own examination in order to admit new students. The increased number of private universities enrolling for CUET indicates that they are shifting towards a common mode of conducting examinations.
The CUET- Undergraduate (CUET-UG) 2023 exam is scheduled to be held from 21 May to 31 May.
In 2022, in all, 90 universities had registered for the entrance examination. Of these, 44 were central universities and the rest were state, private and deemed universities.
Indicating that the increased number of universities was a step in the right direction, UGC chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar told ThePrint Tuesday, “The number of participating universities has gone up this year indicating the popularity of the CUET-UG”.
In a tweet shared Tuesday, UGC chairman Mamidala also said that in CUET-Undergraduate (CUET-UG)’s debut year, 12.50 lakh students had registered for the exam and 9.9 lakh students submitted their applications.
“In 2023, CUET-UG, a total of 16.85 lakh students registered. Out of 16.85 lakhs, 13.995 lakhs paid the application fee and submitted the application form—an increase of 4.0 lakh students. In 2023, there is a 41% increase in the total number of students who will sit for CUET-UG,” he tweeted.
The highest number of students’ registrations received were for admission into Delhi University followed by Banaras Hindu University and Allahabad University, reports quoted the UGC Chairman as saying. The highest number of registrations came in from Uttar Pradesh, followed by Delhi and Bihar, he said.
The National Testing Agency, an autonomous body under the Ministry of education, which was the body conducting the CUET examination faced criticism last year as complaints of technical errors at examination centers had emerged.
In response to this, the UGC chairman told ThePrint that efforts are being made to ensure that this year’s examination is held glitch-free. He said, “This year we are making every effort to identify good centers nationwide so that students will have a glitch free experience.”
(Edited by Anumeha Saxena)
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