Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Despite a sharp and continuing decline in student registrations, Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV) remains firmly committed to using the common university entrance test (CUET) scores for admissions to its professional undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
The drastic drop in applications for nearly a dozen postgraduate courses, especially for academic year 2025-26, has raised concerns within university departments. However, the administration has made it clear that it will not withdraw from CUET, a national-level entrance exam serving as a gateway to around 400 higher education institutions, including Central universities.
Till 2021, DAVV used to conduct its own common entrance test (CET) drawing around 18k to 20k registrations annually for nearly 2k seats, including 1,450 at the postgraduate level. Specifically for PG programmes, the university used to receive around 7k registrations. Since switching to CUET, that number, however, has plummeted to just 1,700 this year.
The steep decline has led some to speculate that DAVV might abandon the national exam and return to its own test. But university officials say that they see greater long term benefits in sticking to CUET, which is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). Speaking to Free Press, DAVV vice chancellor Prof Rakesh Singhai said, ‘We have no plan to opt out of CUET. We accept scores from both CUET-PG and CUET-UG for admissions in our teaching departments and will continue to do so,’ he said.
Singhai claimed that CUET ensures a uniform and competitive admission process for students nationwide. He said that since adopting CUET, DAVV has been able to attract talented students from across the country helping the university maintain its academic standards. Introduced in 2022, CUET saw DAVV among the first universities from Madhya Pradesh to participate. While other state universities followed DAVV’s suit, many are now reconsidering their commitment to the national exam.
Although these universities have seen only marginal changes in their own registration numbers, delays in CUET results have disrupted their academic calendars. Many, including DAVV, have been unable to start undergraduate first-year classes before August since adopting CUET. DAVV shares these concerns but remains optimistic that the process will improve.
‘In a year or so, the NTA will improve their system and the issue of delayed results will be a thing of the past,’ Prof BK Tripathi said. While the decline in registrations is a clear challenge for DAVV, university officials believe that the improved quality of admitted students justifies the change.
