More seats in Government Arts colleges this year to help over 50K students

CHENNAI: The State government has increased the number of seats for in all the Arts and Science colleges due to heavy demand.

This would benefit more than 50,000 Under Graduate (UG) and Post Graduate (PG) students this year.

Minister of Higher Education K Ponmudy on Monday told the House that the admission capacity in the Arts and Science colleges in TN will be increased by 20% from 2024-2025 since the pass percentage of the Class 12 students have increased.

Accordingly, it was decided to increase 20% seat capacity in government colleges, 15% in government-aided institutions and 10% in the self-financing Arts and Science colleges.

A senior official from the Directorate of Collegiate Education told DT Next that currently, 1,626 Arts and Science colleges (including government, government-aided and self-financing institutions) were functioning across the State.

“This academic year (2024-2025), over 2.11 lakh students have applied online especially in government colleges alone. The total intake capacity across all the colleges, including private institutions, will be around 4.9 lakh,” he added.

Pointing out that since the registration to get admission in Arts and Science colleges in the State were made online, he said: “During the physical mode of submitting the application, students wanting to study in their college of choice would find it located afar from their place of residence, and may not be able to travel long distances. Whereas, with online submission, more students would be able to enrol from their respective places through their mobile phones.”

When the seat capacity increased, colleges will add more students according to the merit list. A circular will be issued to the colleges in this regard shortly, he added. “Last year (2023-2024), around 4.96 lakh students were admitted in the Arts and Science colleges across the State. It might increase to 5.4 lakh this year,” he pointed out.