Saturday, June 21, 2008
Chennai: Here is some good news for students aspiring to join undergraduate courses in arts and science colleges in the city. The University of Madras has decided to create 10% more seats in its affiliated colleges from this year.

“In all, 5,000 seats will be created in courses like BA, B Com and BSc. In terms of students’ strength, it is comparable to establishing 25 new colleges. At present, we have approximately 55,000 seats in arts and science colleges affiliated to us in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts,” university vice-chancellor S Ramachandran told TOI. Colleges would be allowed to increase seats, subject to a maximum of 70 students per course.


Every year, there is a huge demand for admission into the humanities, science and commerce courses, while the seats are limited. Unlike establishing colleges, which require investment running into crores, the creation of additional seats do not add to the overhead costs of any institution.

“This is a big boon for students. This year, there is a mad rush for BSc (computer science) and BCA. The creation of additional seats will help us accommodate over a dozen students in each section,” said professor John Morais, principal, Guru Nanak College.

G Sreenivasa Prabhu, principal, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, also welcomed the move. “The sanctioned intake in our college for each course is 60. There is a huge demand for the commerce stream courses. Creating additional seats in each course will certainly help,” he said.

This year, some colleges have received between 3,000 and 5,000 applications for courses like B Com, B Sc (viscom) and basic sciences, whereas the sanctioned intake varies from 40 to 70 seats.