Mumbai University Admissions Drop by 12% Since Pandemic

Mumbai University (MU) has witnessed a consistent drop in its enrollments since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. The new enrollments have dropped by over 12 per cent in 2021-22 in MU colleges located in Mumbai city and suburban areas, reported Times of India.

The drop is constant even among traditionally popular courses of MU at the undergraduate level.

The sharpest fall in enrolment was recorded in commerce courses where the new admission dropped by 21,147 to come down at 1,84, 508 in 2021-22 compared to 2,05,655 in 2020-21. In terms of percentage, the greatest fall was recorded in admission to science courses offered by MU in cities. Admissions in MU science courses dropped by approximately 18 per cent to come down to 41,625 compared to 50,998 admissions last year.

The total admission count into MU has dropped from approximately 3 lakhs in 2020-21 to 2.6 lakhs in 2021-22.

However, Bombay University College Teachers Union (BUTC) member Nisha Muni told TOI that the situation may be much worse than what the numbers suggest. She found that there were at least 30 per cent fewer students in college classrooms than the number in the admission register of colleges in Mumbai, Thane, and Palghar.

Muni added that the inflated number of enrollments is due to the fact that everyone was promoted in online exams. She claimed that while first and second-year students continue to be in admission roles due to promotion in exams, they are not there in college classrooms.

Even as the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have come in control, the admission into MU remains badly affected. The worst affected of them all are the self-financing programmes indicating that many are not ready to pay a high fee for college.

For those living away from colleges, staying in hostels or other accommodation seems to be another burden.

Experts believe that the drop in enrollment of MU is due to several factors including the economic aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Availability of other local and foreign options; and the rise of private deemed universities also seems to have affected students’ interest in MU.

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