National CUET-PG Interest Dropped By 2 Lakh, But This Lucknow University Kept Growing

Central universities across India saw CUET-PG registrations drop sharply this year, falling from 5.5 lakh candidates last year to 3.5 lakh this year, according to Prof Amit Kumar Singh, admission coordinator at Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU) in Lucknow.

BBAU itself did not follow that pattern. The university received 18,589 postgraduate applications this year for 2,611 seats, its highest total in four years. That is up from 15,965 applications last year, and from around 15,000 candidates who paid the admission fee in each of 2023 and 2024.

‘The figures are really encouraging for us,’ Singh said. ‘Despite this decline, applications to BBAU are showing an increasing trend.’

The applications span 55 postgraduate programmes admitted through CUET-PG, with some courses now drawing more than 40 applicants for every seat available, making this year’s cycle unusually competitive for the university.

Two professional courses accounted for much of the demand. The MCA programme received 2,031 applications for 60 seats, the highest of any course, while the MBA programme drew 1,855 applications for 90 seats. ‘Our professional programmes continue to dominate student preference,’ Singh said.

Wikimedia Commons/by Vineetway18