Delhi University (DU) has informed that there has been a decline in the admission of foreign students in this academic session. The varsity has admitted 520 foreign students across undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD courses, which indicates a decline of over 27.5 per cent from the previous year.
A university official attributed this decline to the delay in the start of the academic session, as per a report by PTI. DU admitted 663 foreign students in 2021. The varsity said that the number of applications from foreign nationals has also dipped this year by over 28 per cent.
"The university received application forms from over 7,000 applicants this year. Last year, the varsity received over 9,000 applications," said Professor Amarjiva Lochan, Joint Dean, International Relations, as per PTI.
"As many as 1,500 students were selected for admission. Out of them, only 520 have confirmed their admission and are coming to Delhi. In UG courses, 320 students have taken admission and in PG and PhD courses, 100 students and 50 students, respectively, have got admission in DU colleges," he added.
The DU official informed that foreign nationals are admitted to various programmes of study by being segregated under two categories, which are self-financing students and students opting for various scholarship schemes under the government's Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) organisation.
The admission process comprises four broad steps: application by the student, evaluation of it by the varsity, completion of the online admission formalities and completion of the formalities after reaching Delhi, as per PTI. Foreign nationals seeking admission in all certificate, diploma, UG, PG, MPhil and PhD courses are exempted from the entrance test. The admission process is carried out purely on a merit basis.
"We have followed the same traditional method. The admission has been conducted solely based on their marks. A merit list has been prepared," Professor Lochan said. "Earlier, only the top 30 students were allowed to list out colleges. This year, we have allowed all the students to tell us their college preferences," he informed.
The professor further said that colleges in the North Campus of the varsity were the most sought after by foreign nationals. "Most of the colleges in North Campus have hostels and the majority of the classes in these colleges are done in English, that is why students prefer North Campus colleges," he explained.
"There has been a delay in academic session this year due to several reasons. That is why we have received fewer applications," the Professor opined, speaking about the decline in foreign students this year.
The varsity official has informed that this year, the maximum number of applications were received from Nepal (110). "Last year, it was from Afghan nationals," he said. Nepal is followed by Tibet (100) and Bangladesh (85), in terms of the number of applications by foreign nationals. The official said that the maximum number of applications were for BCom (Hons), English (Hons), BA Psychology and BA Computer Science. The admission process started in March and it was over by mid-July, as per PTI.
