One-third of Kerala’s degree course seats remain unfilled.

Approximately one-third of undergraduate course seats in colleges under Kerala’s four main universities remain unoccupied, with 82,230 out of 2,22,201 degree seats vacant. This accounts for 37% of seats in arts and science colleges affiliated with Kerala, MG, Calicut, and Kannur Universities. Despite multiple delays in the admission process, these seats lack takers, particularly in self-financing colleges, where 70% of the total vacant seats (58,065) are located.

Calicut University tops the list with 39,873 vacant seats, of which 33,085 are in self-financing colleges. Other universities report 22,310 vacant seats under MG University, 10,546 under Kannur University, and 9,501 under Kerala University. The trend reveals a rise in vacant seats across BSc, BA, and BCom compared to the previous year, with a notable 47% increase.

A committee, led by Kannur University Vice Chancellor Dr. Gopinath Raveendran, has been appointed by the Higher Education Council to analyze this trend. Despite the previous years showing a decline in undergraduate course enrollments, this year witnesses a substantial increase in vacant seats, totaling 47,045 seats in 2021-22 across three universities, excluding Kannur.

Traditionally, BSc courses experience the highest number of vacancies, attributed to science students opting for professional courses. Vacant BSc seats in Kerala rise from 1,131 to 3,839, and in MG University, they increase from 6,544 to 11,564. Similarly, BCom sees increased vacancies, with 3,031 seats in Kerala University and 2,713 in MG University, possibly influenced by students pursuing professional courses like Chartered Accountancy concurrently.